Wolves vs. The Butlers

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

The Wolves move ahead of the Butlers...5-2 to 4-2! And just wait until Jimmy takes his annual mid-season 20-game vacation...the Wolves can really pull away from the 76ers then!

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

The Wolves move ahead of the Butlers...5-2 to 4-2! And just wait until Jimmy takes his annual mid-season 20-game vacation...the Wolves can really pull away from the 76ers then!

Which players girlfriend is he 'dating'?

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

https://mobile.twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/1066735557080956929?s=21

How soon till we can proclaim that our defense is legit?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

https://mobile.twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/1066735557080956929?s=21

How soon till we can proclaim that our defense is legit?

Quite impressive...I'm ready to proclaim now! Even better that the Butlers are 21st since the trade. The 76ers defensive rating may improve after tonight though because they held the high-flying Nets to just 68 points in the first half :).

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

https://mobile.twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/1066735557080956929?s=21

How soon till we can proclaim that our defense is legit?

Quite impressive...I'm ready to proclaim now! Even better that the Butlers are 21st since the trade. The 76ers defensive rating may improve after tonight though because they held the high-flying Nets to just 68 points in the first half :).

Yeah, covington is the guy that transformed us defensively. His on court impact is great (Jimmy was as well), but Covs off court impact is greater. I think hes bringing a more jovial mood and everyone is feeding off of it.

After a horrendous shooting night from our wings:

""I have the mentality that I miss one, the next one I'm going to make," Covington said. "You ain't going to hit every shot. If one thing is not going well, you've got to bring the other things. That's what I built my reputation on: becoming a two-way player."

He doesnt brood and start yelling about working harder blah, blah. He bnrings a more even keel demeanor that fits better with Wiggs, and especially KAT.

""The first thing we told Andrew is he came in here and we just laughed with him," Towns said. "Everyone has a night like that. We have pretty good confidence he will come out and be just fine next game."

Teammates picking each other up and laughing at Drews expense.

Covington has brought chemistry on and off the court.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm sold that our defense is better than before the trade (meaning in a sustainable way - obviously its been better in the small sample of games we've seen). Covington is a better defender than a disenfranchised Butler and Saric is better than Tolliver. So both were upgrades.

Now whether we're a sustainable top 5 or 10 NBA defense remains to be seen....simply not enough games yet, but it's certainly encouraging.

[Monster]

https://mobile.twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/1066735557080956929?s=21

How soon till we can proclaim that our defense is legit?

Quite impressive...I'm ready to proclaim now! Even better that the Butlers are 21st since the trade. The 76ers defensive rating may improve after tonight though because they held the high-flying Nets to just 68 points in the first half :).

Yeah, covington is the guy that transformed us defensively. His on court impact is great (Jimmy was as well), but Covs off court impact is greater. I think hes bringing a more jovial mood and everyone is feeding off of it.

After a horrendous shooting night from our wings:

""I have the mentality that I miss one, the next one I'm going to make," Covington said. "You ain't going to hit every shot. If one thing is not going well, you've got to bring the other things. That's what I built my reputation on: becoming a two-way player."

He doesnt brood and start yelling about working harder blah, blah. He bnrings a more even keel demeanor that fits better with Wiggs, and especially KAT.

""The first thing we told Andrew is he came in here and we just laughed with him," Towns said. "Everyone has a night like that. We have pretty good confidence he will come out and be just fine next game."

Teammates picking each other up and laughing at Drews expense.

Covington has brought chemistry on and off the court.

For me they need to do this for a few more games and do it on the road for a few game before I believe it's real. I'd take them being mediocre those as an ultimate outcome because that would be quite an improvement. Lol

It seems like the consensus was about Covington at the time of the trade from people that watched a lot of the league was that Butler was a better individual defender and Covington was better as a team defender. I think this team needed someone who was better as a team defender than an individual defender. Butler was both but Covington has been really impressive in these few games and honestly exceeded my expectations on that end (so has Saric). Butler wasn't really playing high level defense for the Wolves this year so getting a guy like Covington taking his place its not a shock that it has a pretty positive impact.

To me the real key is that hopefully up and down the roster you don't have guys that are just horrendously bad on that end. Crawford was bad and most of the time Dieng often looked lost and as a starter last year Teague was off and on on that end. Teague's defensive numbers don't look great but he looks like he is putting in more pressure on guys consistently than last year. Rose isn't great but might be the worst defender in the rotation...that's not that bad especially when he is so good offensively. I'm still skeptical but I do think there is reason for hope this team won't suck on that end...also they are switching a lot more which just makes more sense. Towns and Wiggins look more like they are going to be more assets on that end than last year. Again let's see how it goes for a while longer but there are some good signs. Rebounding the ball would help.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Damn Butler...hits a three at the buzzer to beat the Nets! Philly and the Wolves both 5-2 since the trade. I give us the advantage though because they just squeaked by the Nets and we beat then easily. What a clutch player though...dammit.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Damn Butler...hits a three at the buzzer to beat the Nets! Philly and the Wolves both 5-2 since the trade. I give us the advantage though because they just squeaked by the Nets and we beat then easily. What a clutch player though...dammit.

Go figure, he hits 2 game winners in 8 games with the 6ers and none in over 1 year as a wolf.

[ItsJustSoSab]

Butler played like an MVP tonight, albeit against the Nets. I do think they look weaker than us though only because they seem to always blow huge leads or have to come back from huge deficits like today