Game Report - Wolves v. Pacers

[Lipoli390]

Not a very big crowd, but pretty good energy in the building tonight. And ultimately a nice win for the Wolves against a pretty good team.

It was nice to see the Wolves hold a team under 100 points tonight. Part of it was the result of Indiana players missing open shots, but most of it was terrific defense from the Wolves. I'd say it was the best defensive performance I've seen from the Wolves in a long time. Wolves' players were fighting through screens, aggressively attacking but not foulding Indiana ballhandlers and shooters. It was satisfying to see this team defend tenaciously and effectively for nearly the entire game.

Towns and Butler were terrific tonight - as their stats suggest. Butler was a highly efficient scorer and effective defender tonight with 20 points on 50% FG shooting. Meanwhile, Towns returned to his double-double form with 17 points and 15 boards. But more than anything, I liked the way KAT challenged shooters in the paint, changing shots and ultimately resulting in 3 blocks. Actually, a bad foul call took away what would have been his 4th block. It looked like Towns finally came to life tonight. That was good to see.

But as good as Butler and Towns were tonight, it was Okogie, Rose and Tyus who deserve the game ball tonight, even though these three guys all shot terribly. Nevertheless, their collective energy, defense and critical offensive plays spurred the Wolves to victory tonight. Okogie stole the show with his relentless defense and aggressive offense. His old-fashioned 3-point play during the Wolves early 4th quarter push brought the whole crowd to its feet. But I can't say enough about the passion Derrick Rose brings to the floor for the Wolves. And it's not just his passion or energy that makes him an asset. He remains a phenomenal ball-handler with good floor vision. He can be frustrating at times, taking shots he shouldn't take, but on the whole, I'm glad we have him leading our bench.

A few interesting observations:

1. There was one moment - 3rd or 4th quarter - when the Wolves came to the bench for a timeout after scoring off a Butler pass. Jimmy was yelling at everyone on the bench, including Thibodeau and directly at Glen Taylor, saying over and over again, "give me the damn ball." It was fun to watch. He must have continued talking while sitting on the bench as Thibs talked because nearly everyone else on the team was laughing, although I couldn't see KAT's face.

2. I watched closely for Butler's interactions with teammates. There truly is some distance between Butler and his teammates. The close interaction I used to see regularly last season between Butler and all his teammates isn't there this season. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. The only guys I see Butler talking with one-on-one are Tyus and Gorgui. But Butler always seems to be talking generally to anyone/everyone in his vicinity. He really is fun to watch.

3. There remains a palpable coolness between Butler and Towns. Nevertheless, at one point when Towns came to the bench during a timeout, but when on the court they'll occasionally do some perfunctory hand-slapping. They actually did a hand slap on the bench tonight for the first time yet this season. Note that it was Butler who initiated that high five with KAT.

4. I can now confirm that, in two home games so far this season, Thibodeau is MUCH quieter. I can hardly believe my eyes and ears not hearing his voice constantly barking instructions. And interestingly, the team seems to be playing with a little more pace and acting a bit more instinctively. I've noticed players are not longer constantly looking back at the bench or listening for instructions from Thibodeau. I wonder if that has something to do with Butler's comment last week that Thibodeau needs to tone it down and let the players play.

5. Sadly, I have to report that our offense tonight remained the largely motionless isolation offense it's been every since Thibodeau took the reins. It's frustrating to watch this team's players go to their spots and stand there while one player or another drives one on 3 with an occasional pick and roll in between. As with most teams playing against the Wolves, the Pacers' off-ball movement was much better than the Wolves.

6. I thought the key to the Wolves effective defense tonight was what Okogie did to Bagdonovic. Okogie completely dominated him defensively. One of my favorite plays was when Okogie fought through a screen with easy and glued himself to Bagdonovic, prompting the Bagman to grab Okogie's arm and throw him to the ground. Bagman must have thought he'd get away with it against a rookie, but the official showed a lot of integrity and properly assessed the call against the Bagman.

Anyway, that's it for now. If the Wolves play like this in their next 3 home games, they will blow by my 3-7 prediction. But Milwaukee and Utah will be much tougher than Indiana.

[thedoper]

Thanks for this. Derrick Rose is a phenomenal story so far. I hope he keeps it up. Josh was great. The observations about Jimmy and his teammates gives me hope for this guys. Have some pride, Towns was really great tonight. It's a matter of time and I am very optimistic of life after Jimmy (oh no it's happening again). Go Wolves.

[kekgeek]

As always thanks for the report. I enjoy your insight.

Maybe thibs is changing a little bit. He is quieter, we play with more pace, shoot more 3s, minute distribution is better. He still has problems and probably a little too late but maybe just maybe he is changing.

Also I think there is a correlation that KAT was damn good on D because he got a tough the 1st 6 possessions of the game. We made him engaged early.

Great win, we are a good team when Jimmy plays and are at home

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Indiana is a nice team. But they would be firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the Western Conference if they played there. The East is almost an entirely different league at this point. LeBron is finding this out too, opening up with three straight losses, all against fellow Western Conference opponents.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thanks for this. Derrick Rose is a phenomenal story so far. I hope he keeps it up. Josh was great. The observations about Jimmy and his teammates gives me hope for this guys. Have some pride, Towns was really great tonight. It's a matter of time and I am very optimistic of life after Jimmy (oh no it's happening again). Go Wolves.

Well, that's the key with him. He is so dependent on his dribble drive game that I think teams will increasingly give him a cushion to shoot and then he will be driving into a wall of bodies, which even now he's been prone to do sometimes. And his outside shot looks atrocious. I will say this though, he's been one of the primary reasons we are playing with more pace. He really pushes the ball and he's been making some nice passes too.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Indiana is a nice team. But they would be firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the Western Conference if they played there. The East is almost an entirely different league at this point. LeBron is finding this out too, opening up with three straight losses, all against fellow Western Conference opponents.

Toronto look legit, though. I think they can give the warriors a good run for their money.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Indiana is a nice team. But they would be firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the Western Conference if they played there. The East is almost an entirely different league at this point. LeBron is finding this out too, opening up with three straight losses, all against fellow Western Conference opponents.

Toronto look legit, though. I think they can give the warriors a good run for their money.

I'm not sure they can beat Golden State, but I do think they are the favorites to finally come out of the East. Leonard is a huge upgrade to DeRozan. DeRozan is a very nice scorer with limited shooting range. His defense is average at best. Leonard is a two-way monster that has pretty much zero holes in his game. This was a strong move by Toronto's front office.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Thanks Lip. Nice to hold someone under 100 for once. Maybe it was just lighting a fire under Kat and getting a Faried-type in Okogie who's a big disruptor.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Always good to get your first hand reports, Lip...I especially enjoyed your observations about team interaction and Thibs' demeanor.

I was traveling so only able to follow the game on the internet. But some positives in the box score make me question your report that the offense looked as motionless and isolated as usual. I note two things that give me some hope that we are trying to do thins differently: 1) we out-assisted Indy 24-18, including 9 assists from the bench, and 2) we took more 3-pointers than Indy 33-26 (even though we only made 21% of them). Assists and 3-point shots are not staples of Thibs' offense, so I see some good signs there.

Once again it looks like the bench led us in this victory with a net +39 compared to just +11 for the starters. And once again Tyus Jones is near the top of the pack (just one behind Tolliver) with a +10. Just imagine how much more valuable Tyus will be when (if?) he starts shooting like he did in HS and college.

Nice win for the Wolves against a team at full strength that already had two wins this season by more than 20 points, and only one loss on the road to a good Bucks team.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Indiana is a nice team. But they would be firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the Western Conference if they played there. The East is almost an entirely different league at this point. LeBron is finding this out too, opening up with three straight losses, all against fellow Western Conference opponents.

Toronto look legit, though. I think they can give the warriors a good run for their money.

I'm not sure they can beat Golden State, but I do think they are the favorites to finally come out of the East. Leonard is a huge upgrade to DeRozan. DeRozan is a very nice scorer with limited shooting range. His defense is average at best. Leonard is a two-way monster that has pretty much zero holes in his game. This was a strong move by Toronto's front office.

I think nurse was an underrated hire. Thats the type of coach we should be looking at after thibs.