Wolves vs Pacers GDT: establish home court advantage

[Wile E Coyote [enjin:17432808]]

I was at the game. Agree with the comments in this thread.

* PG-13 did whatever he wanted vs. Wiggins and didn't miss many shots. Wiggins was nearby on shots but not defending well enough to make him miss. A few times when Dunn got switched on PG he actually made him miss.

* Teague did whatever he wanted vs. Rubio and didn't miss many shots. He sort of picked his spots, but when he decided to score he did. He seemed pretty fired up and pointed at himself vigorously after making one late shot.

* When I saw Zach was being guarded by Miles I knew Zach was in for a long night. That dude is a good defender. He covered PFs in the past when PG-13 didn't want to.

* Miles and Turner were quietly effective scoring.

* Thad did very little, which was about what I expected after watching him as a Wolf.

* Despite having a big size advantage, KAT was not able to dominate Thad in the post. That was strange. Seems like he didn't post up close enough to the basket, and then the double came.

Overall, I thought PG-13 thoroughly outplayed Wiggins which I kind of expected. I thought Teague outplayed Rubio, and Towns was not able to dominate his matchup. Those were key problems. Zach was held in check until late by Miles, and our bench didn't do much. Thus, we lost.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I was at the game. Agree with the comments in this thread.

* PG-13 did whatever he wanted vs. Wiggins and didn't miss many shots. Wiggins was nearby on shots but not defending well enough to make him miss. A few times when Dunn got switched on PG he actually made him miss.

* Teague did whatever he wanted vs. Rubio and didn't miss many shots. He sort of picked his spots, but when he decided to score he did. He seemed pretty fired up and pointed at himself vigorously after making one late shot.

* When I saw Zach was being guarded by Miles I knew Zach was in for a long night. That dude is a good defender. He covered PFs in the past when PG-13 didn't want to.

* Miles and Turner were quietly effective scoring.

* Thad did very little, which was about what I expected after watching him as a Wolf.

* Despite having a big size advantage, KAT was not able to dominate Thad in the post. That was strange. Seems like he didn't post up close enough to the basket, and then the double came.

Overall, I thought PG-13 thoroughly outplayed Wiggins which I kind of expected. I thought Teague outplayed Rubio, and Towns was not able to dominate his matchup. Those were key problems. Zach was held in check until late by Miles, and our bench didn't do much. Thus, we lost.

Good summary Wile. I thought Rubio foolishly pressed up on Teague a few times and it enabled Teague to blow by him and get in the lane.

There was also some frustrating plays that you just kind of throw your hands up and say the basketball gods were against us last night. The two fouls on Rubio and then Wiggins on those 3-point shots by Teague and George where they use the screen, then suddenly stop and go up for the shot with the intent of drawing contact. Those are the types of calls you only see in the NBA. Throw in the technical on Thibs and those two plays cost us 8 points!

Also, there were a few times they made big shots with minimal time on the shot clock: George's 3-point shot at the halftime buzzer was one example along with some well-contested long 2's in the 4th quarter. I mean, those are just back-breakers and there was nothing wrong with the defense on those plays.

[Wile E Coyote [enjin:17432808]]

There was also some frustrating plays that you just kind of throw your hands up and say the basketball gods were against us last night. The two fouls on Rubio and then Wiggins on those 3-point shots by Teague and George where they use the screen, then suddenly stop and go up for the shot with the intent of drawing contact. Those are the types of calls you only see in the NBA. Throw in the technical on Thibs and those two plays cost us 8 points!

Yeah, those were huge. You can see the experience difference between the Pacers and Wolves there.

If I were the NBA czar for a day, there are two plays that I hate to see that I would try to eliminate:
* Offensive player 'body-hunting' by intentionally slamming into the defender and then flinging up a wild shot. Bledsoe had some of these vs. PHO in the previous game.
* Euro-step. Hate hate hate it. Seems like an obvious travel.

The fact that these two changes would impact Harden does not bother me, as I really dislike watching his style of play. He is so talented he could find other ways to be good without these two.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

There was also some frustrating plays that you just kind of throw your hands up and say the basketball gods were against us last night. The two fouls on Rubio and then Wiggins on those 3-point shots by Teague and George where they use the screen, then suddenly stop and go up for the shot with the intent of drawing contact. Those are the types of calls you only see in the NBA. Throw in the technical on Thibs and those two plays cost us 8 points!

Yeah, those were huge. You can see the experience difference between the Pacers and Wolves there.

If I were the NBA czar for a day, there are two plays that I hate to see that I would try to eliminate:
* Offensive player 'body-hunting' by intentionally slamming into the defender and then flinging up a wild shot. Bledsoe had some of these vs. PHO in the previous game.
* Euro-step. Hate hate hate it. Seems like an obvious travel.

The fact that these two changes would impact Harden does not bother me, as I really dislike watching his style of play. He is so talented he could find other ways to be good without these two.

I've actually come to embrace the Euro-step. If done right, it's really not a travel. I criticize Wiggins a lot, but one thing I will say is that he might be the most graceful Euro-stepper I've ever seen. He does it beautifully.

The body hunting thing drives me nuts too. There was one call against KAT, where Bledsoe literally launched himself into KAT and they called a foul. That was totally B.S. To me, if it's an unnatural act by the offensive player, it's either a no-call or an offensive foul.

I will compliment Wiggins again (that's twice in one post!). He draws fouls the most naturally of any of the big scorers in the NBA. I'd almost like him to get more savvy and use some of these tricks other players have mastered over the years (the rip-through, the pump fake-jump-into-defender move, etc.).

[Monster]

There was also some frustrating plays that you just kind of throw your hands up and say the basketball gods were against us last night. The two fouls on Rubio and then Wiggins on those 3-point shots by Teague and George where they use the screen, then suddenly stop and go up for the shot with the intent of drawing contact. Those are the types of calls you only see in the NBA. Throw in the technical on Thibs and those two plays cost us 8 points!

Yeah, those were huge. You can see the experience difference between the Pacers and Wolves there.

If I were the NBA czar for a day, there are two plays that I hate to see that I would try to eliminate:
* Offensive player 'body-hunting' by intentionally slamming into the defender and then flinging up a wild shot. Bledsoe had some of these vs. PHO in the previous game.
* Euro-step. Hate hate hate it. Seems like an obvious travel.

The fact that these two changes would impact Harden does not bother me, as I really dislike watching his style of play. He is so talented he could find other ways to be good without these two.

I've actually come to embrace the Euro-step. If done right, it's really not a travel. I criticize Wiggins a lot, but one thing I will say is that he might be the most graceful Euro-stepper I've ever seen. He does it beautifully.

The body hunting thing drives me nuts too. There was one call against KAT, where Bledsoe literally launched himself into KAT and they called a foul. That was totally B.S. To me, if it's an unnatural act by the offensive player, it's either a no-call or an offensive foul.

I will compliment Wiggins again (that's twice in one post!). He draws fouls the most naturally of any of the big scorers in the NBA. I'd almost like him to get more savvy and use some of these tricks other players have mastered over the years (the rip-through, the pump fake-jump-into-defender move, etc.).

That body hunting thing seems to be rewarded at every level of basketball I have every been a part of or seen. I hate it but a lot of those players are difficult to call. When I officiated I tended to give the benefit of the doubt if a guy threw up a legit shot after contact. If you just threw up some wild shot at wasn't just going to assume a foul.

Q with the Wiggins love fest! One thing I've looked at more with perimeter players over the last few years is footwork. A guy I've known for a long time that I played pickup ball in college and still do now who is a Lakers fan (good fan not a blind homer) said what he respects about Kobe's game more than anything is his footwork. I think that's something Wiggins has going for him and it's partly why he euro steps well (it's a pretty move imo for players to execute well) and partly why he can draw fouls. When he gets stronger he is gonna be even more of a monster.