Game Report - Wolves v Bulls

[Phenom]

Season is over. Move this team already.

[60WinTim]

The play that set the tone for unbalanced officiating was the first call on Wiggins. It was an athletically beautiful defensive play to tip the top of the ball as Butler tried to get off a shot. Awful, awful call. Eventually, Wiggins will earn the respect from officials I suppose, but it really sucks and can be so damn game changing when officials are so bad.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Honestly we just need to become hacks to stop getting the chippy calls against us. Flip talked about it after the game about his time in Detroit where his teams played like a bunch of hacks and ended up with the least amount of fouls against in the league even though as he put it, they probably committed the most. It's pretty clear the refs don't call as much when you are just overly physical the whole game like the Grizzlies and Bulls were. It is completely ass backwards but it is just how the refs call games nowadays.

That was a travel on Butler and it was a foul on Wiggins. It just shouldn't have come down to the Wiggins foul because it should have been a turnover. The replay shows Butler catching the ball with both feet planted. He steps with his right foot, lifts his left foot (travel right there because he just picked up his pivot foot without dribbling yet), and proceeds to fall forward and pick up his dribble right before his knee and left foot hit the ground. It sucks to see a game get decided by the refs, but we should be used to it by now. It makes me wish JJ would have taught Ricky his trademark shoulder jab to create the space needed to finish his layups. At some point it is on us to fight through the contact better because trying to sell it all the time is why we never get any calls.

[kekgeek]

I was at the game, my conclusion is I need to stop going because the last 3 times I have went it has came down to the last possession and the wolves have lost all three

[Monster]

A few things to add I watched the game Sunday Morning.

It was a tale of 2 halves for 2 rookies Mirotic and Wiggins. Its been outlined the tough first half for Wiggins, but Mirotic was fantastic in that half. The 2nd half he didn't look terrible, but the Wolves defended him much better. That guy looks good though I see why people are high on the guy.

I think Bazz has been just fine this year even in these past 2 games.

Yeah Brewer has a couple bonehead plays every game, but lets be real the guy can be a really good bench player becasue the guy plays his butt off and he can play ball.

Bud....yeah he has looked pretty awful but I'm gonna wait this out a few more games before I stick a fork in him. I think he gets it going. He is a guy that plays better in a system and the Wolves have been playing team ball, but I think its a little more frenetic out there and he may not be able to find his spots. I remember he struggled at first playing for McHale and then he got rolling as the year went on.

Nice to see Hummel get some love cause he wasn't putting up a bunch of points, but he was pretty damn good out there. I was surprised Jim Pete forgot about Hummel as an option at PF.

I don't think Mo was as bad as people are saying he was. He is a guy that is a scorer and yet the think I like about him is he is more calm out there than JJ but still has an edge. Its also nice that he is at least legit combo sized instead of small.

I'll add my praise for Martin his defense is terrific and his hunting or FTs seems to be more in line with what I saw earlier in his career than what I saw at times last year. I don't know if his rejuvenation continues, but he has been fantastic especially in this game.

All things aside Butler looked fantastic tonight. I haven't really seen him play much but like Pete said it looks like he is a guy on a mission. The Bulls have been terrific at drafting and plugging guys in to be successful.

Bennett man he has looked good I hope he keeps doing what he si doing even if that long jumper doesn't keep dropping he is basically playing like Dante right now which is honestly pretty good. If Bennett can be a legit backup PF thats gonna be huge for this team. He looks pretty good so far easily the surprise of the season for the wolves.

Wiggins has the potential to be that SF defensively that we have wanted for years. shotblocking rebounding type that helps you live with some bigs that aren't rim protectors. He has a long way to go, Btu damn that part of his game has real potential. He is getting beat cause he is a 9 year old rookie, but I sorta get that Leonard, AK vibe from him. He may be better than those guys when its all said and done (we don't know how good Leonard will be), but if Wiggins turned out to be as good as either I'd take that.

Overall I'm more than impressed with this team. I'm pretty much feeling like I'll throw down the money for the NBA boardband pass afterall. One other reason to add to the worth is it does help my game to watch especially when I get to listen to Pete break things down, but other broadcastors have some insight as well.

[60WinTim]

Nice summery, monster. While a 1-2 record thus far is what I had expected, I have been pleasantly surprised with how well the team is playing. They have exceeding my expectations on where they would be at in terms of how well they are playing. Assuming they can keep building on this, they will be in the hunt for a playoff spot!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

So who do we blame now for the Wolves late game struggles now that Adelman and Love aren't here to pick on?

What struggles, looks like they played pretty well to me. They were down 14 at half, and finished the third and fourth quarters strong.

Sample size is small, but I have to agree with the consensus here that the Wolves just look different at the end of games than they have in recent years. They started the year with three close games and, yes they lost two of them. But they way they lost is quite different from last year. There is certainly no shame in losing a close one in Memphis, and then they won a close one against Detroit...a game that felt like it was going to slip away like we have seen so many times. Finally, they lost a close one to the Bulls, but only a questionable no-travel call caused that loss. The Wolves always looked so predictable offensively at the end of games in prior years, making them quite easy to defend. Having the ball in Ricky's hands in the closing seconds gives us so many more options to score than we saw in the past, and I think that is going to help us win our share of close games.

This team seems to have more character than previous editions. Let's see if it can hold up.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I didn't know that Martin spoke with Wiggins after the game, that's pretty boss. Plus making that big shot. I've always thought Martin was kind of a bitch, but I'm impressed so far!

[60WinTim]

Of course, last season's Wolves started off 3-0...

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Of course, last season's Wolves started off 3-0...

I don't remember hearing anyone ask you for some reasoned balance, Tim :) .

Yes, those were the days...three good wins, including the OkC thrashing had the NBA's eyes on us. Do you remember, we were ranked in the top 5 in the power rankings! Then came two terrible losses, and a fall to reality. Things still looked great when we beat up the Lakers at Staples Center, but the close loss to the Clips the next night was a harbinger of many close losses to follow.

Excitement about a team that has gone 1-2 somehow feels better than excitement about a team that started 3-0. One of the things I like about this board is its balance. When ESPN had us near the top of the Power Rankings a year ago, most here were taking a cautious attitude, which turned out to be correct. Conversely, there have been a flood of positive comments about a team that is 1-2, and I suspect that we are correct again. While the style of the team is totally different from last year's, I suspect that the results are going to be much the same...hence, my 40 win prediction. But a 40-win season from a young team that appears to be on its way up will feel so much better than a 40-win season from a team that didn't seem to have much upside.

That is it for today's lesson on why 1-2 is much better than 3-0, and why 40 wins can be much better than 40 wins!