Game Report - Wolves v. Blazers

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I don't understand why Sam is still being defended so much. The worst outcome of any given game is losing while guys like Towns, Lavine, etc. watch from the bench. Guess what's been happening lately? Exactly that for Towns and it happened to Zach several times before Sam finally noticed he was producing in crunch time. Sam needs to manage the minutes so Towns finishes games. Period. End of story. There is no excuse for Towns not closing out a game unless he fouls out. I'm sick of the short-term sacrifices Sam makes for the sake of winning when they don't pan out. Martin starting instead of Lavine. Dieng closing games instead of Towns. Win the game or develop your young players so they can start winning the games for you moving forward. Stop consistently losing games and negatively affecting on-court experience for Lavine and Towns. How many more games does Sam need to throw for some of you to realize he's not a good coach?

The rotation is still too big and it's still wrong. We have plenty of shooting on the roster. Sam just isn't playing it correctly. Rudez is shooting 45% from 3 this year and has only played 8 games. Payne is at 50%. Belly is at 38% and he's still only at 5.3 shots per game overall (3.3 3's). Zach is at 36% and that number could be even higher if he would play more off the ball where he traditionally shoots a much higher percentage than off the dribble. Martin meanwhile is at 31%. Prince is at 20%. KG and Dieng can't shoot 3's. Bazz is at 29%. Wiggins is at 28%. Send Prince's minutes Rudez's way. Even if Zach stays at the point, run more action with him giving the ball up and then getting into some catch and shoot action off screens. Either give Payne more run or try some small ball with Rudez at the 4 next to Towns. We have the shooting on the team. Sam is just doing nothing to integrate it into his rotations and system which are focused so much on defense that the offense is suffering. That's why I push so much for Ricky/Lavine/Wiggins/NB/Towns. That leaves 3 3pt shooters on the court, a couple guys who can drive to the basket, 2 post players and everyone is at least an ok defender with 3 being really good defenders. It is the balanced lineup this team should be featuring that Sam has tried for all of 8 minutes this year.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yosimar and Lip...you guys missed my point. I love the fact that KAT has the confidence to take that shot and want him to take it. In fact right now I see our youngest five players (KAT, Wig, Zach, Bazz and Gorgui) not hesitant at all to put up a shot, which tells me that Sam is not discouraging their shooting but rather encouraging it. (Surprisingly though, some of our older guys, and especially Belly and Martin, look a little hesitant at times beyond the arc). But my point was not about his confidence, it was about the mindset of the 20-year-old player and the challenge Sam has in utilizing so many talented but young players. I chuckled when I read that KAT's first thought when the ball was in the air was what kind of celebration he was going to perform after it went in (did you guys notice that he did some kind of eye goggles celebration after the first made three?). I'm not making a big deal out of it...in fact I thought it was kind of entertaining. I'm just pointing out the mindset of the 20-year-old player. Can you imagine LeBron James or Tim Duncan saying after a game that they were thinking about how they were going to celebrate? Of course not. Young players often lack the focus of more seasoned veterans, and that has a lot to do with why Sam is reluctant to have three near-teenagers on the court at critical moments. Their time will come, and sooner rather than later...Sam just needs to be smart in how he matches rookies with vets, and I think he is doing a great job doing that.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

To me Sam has "Smartest Guy in the Room" syndrome. Rambis had it, Kahn had it (Flynn--why!), and here's two other guys who have it: Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson. But the difference between Pop and Phil compared to the others is that those two actually ARE the smartest guy in the room, and they know it, and they know everyone around them knows it.

The other day against the Clippers the Wolves were on a run and closed the gap to 4 points with 7 minutes left in the 3rd--they had all the momentum. All of a sudden out of nowhere Sam calls a timeout. After that timeout the Clippers went on a 7-0 run and the Wolves never recovered.

Tonight down 2 needing a stop Sam subs out KAT for Prince, and this is right after the unit on the court had played the best defensive possession of the game (right before KAT missed the second 3). So because the Blazers bring in a forward Sam subs out KAT, our best rim protector? Why? Oh wait here's why: Sam is smarter than everyone else. And that's why he can't admit he made a mistake in the presser.

Lets face it, 8-11 is about where this team should be, and at the end of the day the players lose games, and the players lost this one tonight by playing pitiful basketball from early in the 3rd quarter on. But good coaches do the little things that give their teams the best chance to win, even when the players aren't making plays.

Sam is a good guy overall and he makes an excellent assistant coach, but as a head coach he's playing checkers while his opposing coaches are playing chess.

We're surely stuck with him for the rest of the year (or are we?), but after that he has to go. But even more important, we have to find the right guy to take over.

Sam kept Gorgui on the floor instead of KAT because Gorgui is much much better PnR defender than KAT at this point. KAT is going to need more experience to get there. That is btw reason why Sam plays Dieng in 4th quarters over him against fast guards. Rubio sucks donkey balls in PnR defense so you have to play your best big PnR defender to have any chance.

My observations:
95-92 for POR: Rubio gets fouled very softly still cannot finish layup for AND1.
95-94 for POR: Rubio runs into the screen, gives Lillard all the time in the world to make wide open 3 pointer.
98-94 for POR: Rubio gives up backdoor for C.J. for easy 2. (btw. if kid does it in junior category, he gots earplug and is subbed)
100-94: Rubio cannot finish reverse layup for some reason. Do not ask me why he cannot bang that of glass.

That is like -10 points caused by our marvelous 15mil starting PG in 2 minutes span. Last 3 minutes our offense works like this. Rubio dribbles half court gives ball to Zach and goes to camp left corner, that is where he hurts the least as his defender cannot double anybody in 4v4.

Last layup by Lillard. Rubio forced Lillard to go right side and Gorgui should be there as a help defender. He went too far with Plumlee and could not get to the spot where he could challenge Lillard with his layup. Rubio still should be closer to Lillard and challenge him a bit. He just cannot as Lillard out runs him by 8-10 feet on 40 feet sprint.

No question Rubio was part of the problem in this game. He was out there when they first took the 17 point lead and then let Portland back in the game. However, the sequence of plays you describe above can't all be put on Rubio, as two of the defensive lapses involved our bigs too (KG didn't stay with Lillard long enough to allow Rubio to recover and Dieng was caught out of position on the dribble drive). The backdoor play by McCollum was 100% on Rubio.

Don't forget that two of the guys we expect to close games for us in the future - Wiggins and LaVine - were a combined 2-11 in the 4th quarter, and a couple of those were wide open looks from 3. That hurt just as much as Rubio's misses and miscues.

[Carlos Danger]

Well, at least we change up the way we disappoint the home crowd. Against Orlando, we started out sluggishly and then clawed our way back in the game, but it wasn't enough. In this game, we started out great and then let Portland stampede us in the 2nd half. Diversity!

It's hard for me to point the finger at one or two particular moves or decisions by Mitchell and say it cost us the game. This game was lost when we were up 17 and then the Blazers went on to score on something like 14 out of their next 18 possessions. That process began with our starting unit on the floor, including Towns. We aren't going to win a lot of games letting the other team shoot over 50% from the field.

You nailed it. So many people keep trying to pin wins/losses on one person or one quarter or the last five minutes or substitutions. While those things might contribute to the problem, it's almost always bigger than that. In this case, we started off hot and finished cold - plain and simple. Guys have to hit some friggin shots.

Wiggins 6 for 15
LaVine 4 for 14
Bazz/Rubio 2 for 10 combined.

That's too many guys missing too many shots. Maybe it's our offense (not moving the ball enough) or maybe it's just the guys not knocking down make-able shots. If it's infrequent - I'd say it's on the players. If it's consistent, then I'd lean towards a bigger problem (offensive ball movement).

[AbeVigodaLive]

Well, at least we change up the way we disappoint the home crowd. Against Orlando, we started out sluggishly and then clawed our way back in the game, but it wasn't enough. In this game, we started out great and then let Portland stampede us in the 2nd half. Diversity!

It's hard for me to point the finger at one or two particular moves or decisions by Mitchell and say it cost us the game. This game was lost when we were up 17 and then the Blazers went on to score on something like 14 out of their next 18 possessions. That process began with our starting unit on the floor, including Towns. We aren't going to win a lot of games letting the other team shoot over 50% from the field.

You nailed it. So many people keep trying to pin wins/losses on one person or one quarter or the last five minutes or substitutions. While those things might contribute to the problem, it's almost always bigger than that. In this case, we started off hot and finished cold - plain and simple. Guys have to hit some friggin shots.

Wiggins 6 for 15
LaVine 4 for 14
Bazz/Rubio 2 for 10 combined.

That's too many guys missing too many shots. Maybe it's our offense (not moving the ball enough) or maybe it's just the guys not knocking down make-able shots. If it's infrequent - I'd say it's on the players. If it's consistent, then I'd lean towards a bigger problem (offensive ball movement).

Not a huge fan of how the Wolves "look" on offense. It's not a real fluid offense. A lot of isolations and of course, dreaded mid-range shots.

But is that partly because of the yet to evolve skillsets of pretty young team? There are no Paul Millsap or Draymond Green or even Robert Covington types on the team. The Wolves players are pretty specific in what they do:

- Rubio. Pass. Almost exclusively.
- Wiggins. Shoot. (score) almost exclusively.
- Garnett/Prince. Defense only.
- Muhammad. Score. Shoot.
- Martin. Score. Shoot.

Dieng/Towns show a bit more of all-around games, slightly. (Dieng seemed to be a better passer last year though)
LaVine can pass "enough" to offer a threat either scoring or shooting. Holy shit. Is he the team's most versatile player? WHAT???

[Carlos Danger]

Not a huge fan of how the Wolves "look" on offense. It's not a real fluid offense. A lot of isolations and of course, dreaded mid-range shots.

But is that partly because of the yet to evolve skillsets of pretty young team? There are no Paul Millsap or Draymond Green or even Robert Covington types on the team. The Wolves players are pretty specific in what they do:

- Rubio. Pass. Almost exclusively.
- Wiggins. Shoot. (score) almost exclusively.
- Garnett/Prince. Defense only.
- Muhammad. Score. Shoot.
- Martin. Score. Shoot.

Dieng/Towns show a bit more of all-around games, slightly. (Dieng seemed to be a better passer last year though)
LaVine can pass "enough" to offer a threat either scoring or shooting. Holy shit. Is he the team's most versatile player? WHAT???

Completely agree - they don't look (insert adjective i.e. "fluid", "crisp" etc.). I think (hope) it's just because it's third coach in three years with a lot of young or new players. I agree with your assessment of one dimensional players as well. It's problematic - but I hope fixable as they play together more.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Well, at least we change up the way we disappoint the home crowd. Against Orlando, we started out sluggishly and then clawed our way back in the game, but it wasn't enough. In this game, we started out great and then let Portland stampede us in the 2nd half. Diversity!

It's hard for me to point the finger at one or two particular moves or decisions by Mitchell and say it cost us the game. This game was lost when we were up 17 and then the Blazers went on to score on something like 14 out of their next 18 possessions. That process began with our starting unit on the floor, including Towns. We aren't going to win a lot of games letting the other team shoot over 50% from the field.

You nailed it. So many people keep trying to pin wins/losses on one person or one quarter or the last five minutes or substitutions. While those things might contribute to the problem, it's almost always bigger than that. In this case, we started off hot and finished cold - plain and simple. Guys have to hit some friggin shots.

Wiggins 6 for 15
LaVine 4 for 14
Bazz/Rubio 2 for 10 combined.

That's too many guys missing too many shots. Maybe it's our offense (not moving the ball enough) or maybe it's just the guys not knocking down make-able shots. If it's infrequent - I'd say it's on the players. If it's consistent, then I'd lean towards a bigger problem (offensive ball movement).

That's all true, but we still put up 103 points. That should have been enough to withstand a weak 2nd half offensively, but our defense totally fell apart. We were up 17 at the 9:40 mark after a KG jumper. This is what happened next on Portland's possessions:

9:35 - McCollum 2-pt basket
9:01 - Aminu 3 pointer
8:29 - Vonleh 2-pointer
7:56 - McCollum 2-pointer
7:29 - McCollum 3 pointer
7:01 - Vonleh 2-pointer
6:40 - Aminu makes 2 free throws
[highlight=#f3efb1]6:20 - Lillard MISSES 2-point shot, Wolves rebound and gain possession[/highlight]
6:02 - Plumlee makes 2 free throws
5:31 - McCollum makes 3-pointer
5:11-5:07 - McCollum MISSES 3-pointer, O-rebound to Portland, Lillard fouled - makes 2 free throws
4:45-4:37 - McCollum MISSES 2-pointer, O-rebound to Portland, Plumlee makes 2-pointer
4:02 - McCollum makes 2 pointer
3:32 - Lillard makes 2 pointer

So in 6 minutes, they scored on 13 out of 14 possessions! I highlighted the one possession they didn't score. The other two times they missed, they got the O-board and scored. This sequence is why we lost the game.

[Carlos Danger]

That's all true, but we still put up 103 points. That should have been enough to withstand a weak 2nd half offensively, but our defense totally fell apart. We were up 17 at the 9:40 mark after a KG jumper.

So in 6 minutes, they scored on 13 out of 14 possessions! I highlighted the one possession they didn't score. The other two times they missed, they got the O-board and scored. This sequence is why we lost the game.

Good point regarding still putting up 103. Most days - that should be enough with good defense. I watched the game on TV. My take was that the 1st half we were pretty hot (59 points) and the second half - not so much (44 points). It seemed like we missed a bunch of easy shots too. On the flip side - it seemed like everything they threw up went right in. Our defensive effort seemed there. Sometimes you just tip your hat to guys who make shots. It's a long season. They lost a winnable game. Let's hope they just put it in the rear view mirror and get a W tonight.

[Lipoli390]

Q - You pointed to the Wolves poor 4 the quarter defense as the reason they lost. I can't argue with that. The Blazers hit 50% of their FG attempts and 50% from behind the arc. That can't just be great shooting by a well-defended team. But did you hear Sam's post-game press conference? According to Sam it wasn't our defense. He blamed our offense. More specifically, he blamed the players for failing to make shots, saying something to the effect, "the players have to make layups or draw fouls when attempting them." A few observations:

1. First, you have to wonder about a head coach who blames the offense for a loss when his team scores 103 points and his defense gives up 50% shooting.

2. Second, it's troublesome when a head coach publicly blames his players for missing shots while simultaneously failing to take any responsibility on himself. Leaders typically take responsibility on themselves, at least when speaking publicly. It wasn't as if the players had an effort issue in that game. A poor fort might have been worthy of a public toungue lashing. But the players played hard.

3. When you see the games live, you see a completely unimaginative offense with minimal movement away from the ball and players who are repeatedly passing up shots they should take. It's horrible to watch.

[Lipoli390]

I don't understand why Sam is still being defended so much. The worst outcome of any given game is losing while guys like Towns, Lavine, etc. watch from the bench. Guess what's been happening lately? Exactly that for Towns and it happened to Zach several times before Sam finally noticed he was producing in crunch time. Sam needs to manage the minutes so Towns finishes games. Period. End of story. There is no excuse for Towns not closing out a game unless he fouls out. I'm sick of the short-term sacrifices Sam makes for the sake of winning when they don't pan out. Martin starting instead of Lavine. Dieng closing games instead of Towns. Win the game or develop your young players so they can start winning the games for you moving forward. Stop consistently losing games and negatively affecting on-court experience for Lavine and Towns. How many more games does Sam need to throw for some of you to realize he's not a good coach?

The rotation is still too big and it's still wrong. We have plenty of shooting on the roster. Sam just isn't playing it correctly. Rudez is shooting 45% from 3 this year and has only played 8 games. Payne is at 50%. Belly is at 38% and he's still only at 5.3 shots per game overall (3.3 3's). Zach is at 36% and that number could be even higher if he would play more off the ball where he traditionally shoots a much higher percentage than off the dribble. Martin meanwhile is at 31%. Prince is at 20%. KG and Dieng can't shoot 3's. Bazz is at 29%. Wiggins is at 28%. Send Prince's minutes Rudez's way. Even if Zach stays at the point, run more action with him giving the ball up and then getting into some catch and shoot action off screens. Either give Payne more run or try some small ball with Rudez at the 4 next to Towns. We have the shooting on the team. Sam is just doing nothing to integrate it into his rotations and system which are focused so much on defense that the offense is suffering. That's why I push so much for Ricky/Lavine/Wiggins/NB/Towns. That leaves 3 3pt shooters on the court, a couple guys who can drive to the basket, 2 post players and everyone is at least an ok defender with 3 being really good defenders. It is the balanced lineup this team should be featuring that Sam has tried for all of 8 minutes this year.

Kahns - Absolutely right about Sam's coaching!