We're gonna win, Twins... - Blazers at Wolves GDT

[Lipoli390]

I was there. Gorgui's mom was in her usual seat with both Dieng and Wiggins family members. Zach's sister was at the game again near me as well.

Regarding the game, the Wolves beat the hottest team in the League. Although down my 10 points, the Wolves fought back and battled to the end against a red hot team with strong incentive to win and hold onto the final playoff slot in the West. The defense definitely tightened up in the 2nd half and the Wolves ended up hold the high-scoring Blazers to their season average point total. This is the way this team is built. It doesn't have to be a great defensive team. It just needs to be decent and then win games on the offensive end. This team is built to score with Towns, Wiggins and eventually Zach paired with our mistro facilitator at PG.

Tonight we outscored the Blazers 110 to 109 and we did it without Zach or Belly. Bazz was good, but the rest of the bench was putrid, which has been typical this season. The Blazers were hitting some tough contested shots so I think it's fair to say the Wolves defense was better than the Blazers' 109 points otherwise suggest. But the key is that the Wolves scored the ball with KAT and Andrew leading the way. KAT really came through with some tough "will the ball into the basket" buckets late in the game. And Wiggins was terrific on both ends the whole game. Love his stroke lately and really like his new-found consistency at the free throw line.

Interesting play in the 2nd half when Ricky had the ball and was looking at Wiggins. Wiggins subtly pointed to Gorgui and Ricky then quickly passed the ball to Gorgui who then dumped it off to Andrew for a dunk. Great communication between those three. And some impressive court awareness from Andrew.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Timberwolves PR?Verified account @Twolves_PR 48m48 minutes ago

Per Swanny: Another one-point win makes 10 in a row, equaling the NBA's longest such streak in the last 20 years #Twolves


But wait, some folks here tell me we can't win close games with Rubio on the floor!

Only 4 of those came this year while we had with 9 losses within 3 points (1 possession games). Last I checked 4-9 ain't a great record you should hang your hat on to prove a point that Ricky can stay on the court to end games.

Huh? I'm not following....it sounds like you are mixing and matching "close game" criteria to come to your 4-9 result.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Wolves have this year 9-9 record in close games. That includes all games within 3 point margin plus all overtime games. So their close game record has eventually evened out just like I predicted to happen.

Last year their close game record was 9-8 in close games. So I don't see that they would have had much problems in those after Kevin Love era.

Thanks Mikkeman, good stuff. You were indeed right, although I still contend the close game losses early this season were indeed due more to incompetent defensive breakdowns versus just plain random bad luck.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I was there. Gorgui's mom was in her usual seat with both Dieng and Wiggins family members. Zach's sister was at the game again near me as well.

Regarding the game, the Wolves beat the hottest team in the League. Although down my 10 points, the Wolves fought back and battled to the end against a red hot team with strong incentive to win and hold onto the final playoff slot in the West. The defense definitely tightened up in the 2nd half and the Wolves ended up hold the high-scoring Blazers to their season average point total. This is the way this team is built. It doesn't have to be a great defensive team. It just needs to be decent and then win games on the offensive end. This team is built to score with Towns, Wiggins and eventually Zach paired with our mistro facilitator at PG.

Tonight we outscored the Blazers 110 to 109 and we did it without Zach or Belly. Bazz was good, but the rest of the bench was putrid, which has been typical this season. The Blazers were hitting some tough contested shots so I think it's fair to say the Wolves defense was better than the Blazers' 109 points otherwise suggest. But the key is that the Wolves scored the ball with KAT and Andrew leading the way. KAT really came through with some tough "will the ball into the basket" buckets late in the game. And Wiggins was terrific on both ends the whole game. Love his stroke lately and really like his new-found consistency at the free throw line.

Interesting play in the 2nd half when Ricky had the ball and was looking at Wiggins. Wiggins subtly pointed to Gorgui and Ricky then quickly passed the ball to Gorgui who then dumped it off to Andrew for a dunk. Great communication between those three. And some impressive court awareness from Andrew.

Quibbling here... but Golden State has won 11 or 12 in a row.

Did miss your game reports though. Good to have them back.

[Lipoli390]

OK, Abe. Second hottest team in the NBA. :)

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Timberwolves PR?Verified account @Twolves_PR 48m48 minutes ago

Per Swanny: Another one-point win makes 10 in a row, equaling the NBA's longest such streak in the last 20 years #Twolves


But wait, some folks here tell me we can't win close games with Rubio on the floor!

Only 4 of those came this year while we had with 9 losses within 3 points (1 possession games). Last I checked 4-9 ain't a great record you should hang your hat on to prove a point that Ricky can stay on the court to end games.

Huh? I'm not following....it sounds like you are mixing and matching "close game" criteria to come to your 4-9 result.

That coming from the guy using a stat that spans across multiple seasons. We tried to use the games within 5 points because that's largely what the league uses as clutch time performance. You rejected it so I made it 1 possession games since you seemed to have a problem with potential backdoor covers to get within 5 points. You seem to think only 1 point games matter in this debate. We gave you within 1 possession and the traditional clutch time metric to show you those 1 point wins don't outweigh all the other close games that show a lack of closing games out in the 4th quarter.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Wolves have this year 9-9 record in close games. That includes all games within 3 point margin plus all overtime games. So their close game record has eventually evened out just like I predicted to happen.

Last year their close game record was 9-8 in close games. So I don't see that they would have had much problems in those after Kevin Love era.

Thanks Mikkeman, good stuff. You were indeed right, although I still contend the close game losses early this season were indeed due more to incompetent defensive breakdowns versus just plain random bad luck.

Looking at the schedule we're 7-9 in games decided by 3 points. Don't know where Mikkeman is seeing the other 2 wins.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Wolves have this year 9-9 record in close games. That includes all games within 3 point margin plus all overtime games. So their close game record has eventually evened out just like I predicted to happen.

Last year their close game record was 9-8 in close games. So I don't see that they would have had much problems in those after Kevin Love era.

Thanks Mikkeman, good stuff. You were indeed right, although I still contend the close game losses early this season were indeed due more to incompetent defensive breakdowns versus just plain random bad luck.

Looking at the schedule we're 7-9 in games decided by 3 points. Don't know where Mikkeman is seeing the other 2 wins.

....and I have us at 10-11 if you look at games decided by 3 points or less and in OT games. Either way, what is interesting to me (but probably not interesting to you) is that our winning percentage in close games is actually better than our winning percentage on the season....Mmmmm, that doesn't make sense if Rubio is supposedly such a huge liability in close games!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Timberwolves PR?Verified account @Twolves_PR 48m48 minutes ago

Per Swanny: Another one-point win makes 10 in a row, equaling the NBA's longest such streak in the last 20 years #Twolves


But wait, some folks here tell me we can't win close games with Rubio on the floor!

Only 4 of those came this year while we had with 9 losses within 3 points (1 possession games). Last I checked 4-9 ain't a great record you should hang your hat on to prove a point that Ricky can stay on the court to end games.

Huh? I'm not following....it sounds like you are mixing and matching "close game" criteria to come to your 4-9 result.

That coming from the guy using a stat that spans across multiple seasons. We tried to use the games within 5 points because that's largely what the league uses as clutch time performance. You rejected it so I made it 1 possession games since you seemed to have a problem with potential backdoor covers to get within 5 points. You seem to think only 1 point games matter in this debate. We gave you within 1 possession and the traditional clutch time metric to show you those 1 point wins don't outweigh all the other close games that show a lack of closing games out in the 4th quarter.

It's not my stat. I was just re-posting what I saw. And last time I checked, Rubio has been here through the multiple seasons the stat spans, so it seems quite germane to this debate.

And who is the "we" you are referring to?

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Timberwolves PR?Verified account @Twolves_PR 48m48 minutes ago

Per Swanny: Another one-point win makes 10 in a row, equaling the NBA's longest such streak in the last 20 years #Twolves


But wait, some folks here tell me we can't win close games with Rubio on the floor!

Only 4 of those came this year while we had with 9 losses within 3 points (1 possession games). Last I checked 4-9 ain't a great record you should hang your hat on to prove a point that Ricky can stay on the court to end games.

Huh? I'm not following....it sounds like you are mixing and matching "close game" criteria to come to your 4-9 result.

That coming from the guy using a stat that spans across multiple seasons. We tried to use the games within 5 points because that's largely what the league uses as clutch time performance. You rejected it so I made it 1 possession games since you seemed to have a problem with potential backdoor covers to get within 5 points. You seem to think only 1 point games matter in this debate. We gave you within 1 possession and the traditional clutch time metric to show you those 1 point wins don't outweigh all the other close games that show a lack of closing games out in the 4th quarter.

It's not my stat. I was just re-posting what I saw. And last time I checked, Rubio has been here through the multiple seasons the stat spans, so it seems quite germane to this debate.

And who is the "we" you are referring to?

Lol you can't even remember what you post in a 3 page thread. Go to page two and look at your exchange with Kek.