lipoli390 wrote:Yes, the Butler trade is definitely looking like a win-win for both teams. 7 wins in a row for the Bulls is extraordinary. I was expecting the Wolves to win those last five home games with 4 of them against sub .500 teams. But alas, we ended up 3-2. Missed opportunity. But I'm glad we have Butler. In retrospect, I wish we had dealt Wiggins instead of Dunn and Zach. I didn't think so at the time, but I think so now.
John Collins had another nice game tonight with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 1 block in 27 minutes. He shot 6-7 from the field and 6-6 from the foul line.
Utah was crushed by OKC. The Jazz are stinking like a stone while OKC appears to be getting on track. As usual, talent eventually prevails in the NBA as the season wears on. You can see the 8 playoff contenders emerging, namely Golden State, Houston, San Antonio, Minnesota, Portland, Denver, New Orleans and OKC. There's also a trio at the top in Golden State, Houston and San Antonio. The Spurs haven't shown themselves to be at quite the same level as the top 2 teams in the West, but K. Leonard stays healthy the rest of the season, the Spurs could potentially stay with those two teams. I'm not clear yet on how the rest of the 8 Western Conference teams will sort themselves out. I think the Wolves have as much talent as any team in the West except Golden State and Houston.
Yeah, I feel like there is more certainty in the West than normal...the top 3 are really good, and the bottom three are really bad (now that the Jazz have sunk to new levels with Rubio playing really poorly). It's good to see OkC winning some games to ensure we get our pick...now that they look like a certain playoff team, I can start cheering against them again! I agree that we have as much talent as any team except the top 2 in the Pop/Thibs factor makes SA tough for us to beat too, but I still think Thibs has the horses to take this team to a 4th place finish...even with Wig playing as poorly as he is. And if Wig can regain the form he showed last season and Thibs continues to play his bench like he has done the past two games, it's not inconceivable that we can pass the Spurs too. A long way to go, but some promising signs the past two games.
Rubio is scuffling, definitely... but let's not be so quick to pin ALL the blame on him.
Gobert is out. Favors was out. Mitchell was out last night. That team is having another injury-plagued season. And they were at .500 before the injuries + schedule caught up to them. Consider their past 4 opponents:
Cleveland
Boston
Houston
OKC
Fortunately for Wolves fans... it doesn't get much better for them:
San Antonio
OKC
at Denver
Cleveland
Golden State
Yikes. That's about as difficult as it gets in today's NBA. They're 1/5 games out right now. If they can stay within a few games of the 8 spot for the next 3 weeks... they still a legit chance because they're still a good defensive team.
Just when a few of us (but not Abe) had written Utah off, they take down the Spurs despite missing Gobert and Mitchell! Rubio was awful again (his A:TO ratio which has always ranked among the league leaders is horrible), but they still managed a double digit win. Hmm...Leonard is back, and the Spurs are only 1-2 in games he has played in. I don't know if Rudy Gay has ever had to come off the bench, and maybe he doesn't like it. Any trouble in paradise could be helpful in the Wolves; quest for the 3rd spot...only 2 1/2 out now.
longstrangetrip wrote:Just when a few of us (but not Abe) had written Utah off, they take down the Spurs despite missing Gobert and Mitchell! Rubio was awful again (his A:TO ratio which has always ranked among the league leaders is horrible), but they still managed a double digit win. Hmm...Leonard is back, and the Spurs are only 1-2 in games he has played in. I don't know if Rudy Gay has ever had to come off the bench, and maybe he doesn't like it. Any trouble in paradise could be helpful in the Wolves; quest for the 3rd spot...only 2 1/2 out now.
Wel...Pau Gasol, Danny Green and Manu didn't play. The Spurs started Brynn Forbes and Laverne. Gay has only started 5 game this year but on the whole is have a productive and efficient season. It shouldn't be too surprising that adding Leonard into the mix of a team that was rolling could throw them off a bit. I watched a bit their previous game and Manu was looking pretty spry espcially on defense.
Meanwhile Utah has Joe Johnson back and Rodney Hood as well which is a nice boast espcially when Hood is lighting it up. One positive about Gobert being out is playing someone else that provides more spacing either Jerebko or an older wing like Sefelosha or Joe Johnson.
Michael Beasley came off the bench for 32 points with the Knicks last night in their win over Boston. The dude has always been able to score. One thing he's done this season is taken his game much more inside. He's cut way down on the dreaded long 2. The result? A solid TS% of .565, which is well above his career average.
Anyone that saw Beasley in college would remember what a beast he was in the paint. Good to see him going back to his roots, especially in this era of small ball where he has smaller guys often guarding him.
Q12543 wrote:Michael Beasley came off the bench for 32 points with the Knicks last night in their win over Boston. The dude has always been able to score. One thing he's done this season is taken his game much more inside. He's cut way down on the dreaded long 2. The result? A solid TS% of .565, which is well above his career average.
Anyone that saw Beasley in college would remember what a beast he was in the paint. Good to see him going back to his roots, especially in this era of small ball where he has smaller guys often guarding him.
Good points Q. 85 points in the last 3 games for Beas. The guy always had legit scoring talent.
longstrangetrip wrote:Just when a few of us (but not Abe) had written Utah off, they take down the Spurs despite missing Gobert and Mitchell! Rubio was awful again (his A:TO ratio which has always ranked among the league leaders is horrible), but they still managed a double digit win. Hmm...Leonard is back, and the Spurs are only 1-2 in games he has played in. I don't know if Rudy Gay has ever had to come off the bench, and maybe he doesn't like it. Any trouble in paradise could be helpful in the Wolves; quest for the 3rd spot...only 2 1/2 out now.
The Spurs are actually 1 - 3 with Leonard back. (and 2 - 0 in the two games without him) since his return.
But Leonard has averaged only 17 mpg... and still hasn't played more than 20 minutes in any game. I have to believe this is a small sample size anomaly... or the rotations are in flux... because Leonard has been very good in those limited minutes.
longstrangetrip wrote:Just when a few of us (but not Abe) had written Utah off, they take down the Spurs despite missing Gobert and Mitchell! Rubio was awful again (his A:TO ratio which has always ranked among the league leaders is horrible), but they still managed a double digit win. Hmm...Leonard is back, and the Spurs are only 1-2 in games he has played in. I don't know if Rudy Gay has ever had to come off the bench, and maybe he doesn't like it. Any trouble in paradise could be helpful in the Wolves; quest for the 3rd spot...only 2 1/2 out now.
The Spurs are actually 1 - 3 with Leonard back. (and 2 - 0 in the two games without him) since his return.
But Leonard has averaged only 17 mpg... and still hasn't played more than 20 minutes in any game. I have to believe this is a small sample size anomaly... or the rotations are in flux... because Leonard has been very good in those limited minutes.
Nice last five games for Lonzo Ball...averaging 17.2, 7.2 and 6.4 on 47% shooting both overall and on threes. He's a transformational type player, and it's good for the league to see him figuring it out.
The West is starting to play better, but the East is still two games better. Again, good for the league to have parity between the two conferences.
longstrangetrip wrote:Nice last five games for Lonzo Ball...averaging 17.2, 7.2 and 6.4 on 47% shooting both overall and on threes. He's a transformational type player, and it's good for the league to see him figuring it out.
The West is starting to play better, but the East is still two games better. Again, good for the league to have parity between the two conferences.
The Lakers will soon be a force to be reckoned with. There's a lot of really good young talent on that roster, including Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Randle, Nance, Clarkson and Hart. Then there's a perennial allstar named Paul George who will be a FA next summer and who has declared his desire to become a Laker.
Almost forgot. Another nice game for John Collins with 16 points and 9 rebounds in 26 minutes. :) He was 7-8 from the field, continuing his high-efficiency offensive production.
