Da Bigger One - Wolves at Lakers GDT

[AbeVigodaLive]

In the Timberwolves past 3 playoff/play-in games:

- Blow 13 point 2nd half lead vs. Memphis
- Blow 13 point 4th quarter lead vs. Memphis
- Blow 13 point 2nd half lead vs. Los Angeles

The Wolves were outscored 106 - 62 in the 4th quarter/OT of those games.




[Note: Nobody knows our pain.]

As soon as the Wolves went up 15, I put in a moneyline bet on the Lakers.

It's crazy how that has worked 19 times.

I haven't bet in a long time... but when I saw the Wolves were favored by +5.5 in the 3rd quarter... I should have jumped on it. I thought about it.

Damn it.

[thedoper]

We will always stink when it matters. Let the Ant trade chatter begin. What will rope us in after he is gone?

[kekgeek]

Jmac the last two lakers games. 20 minutes, 0-10, 2 asts, 4 turnovers -26

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Jmac the last two lakers games. 20 minutes, 0-10, 2 asts, 4 turnovers -26

Yeah, as a short baldy myself with a soft spot for guys who play hard despite limited skills, I love the guy.

But he seems clearly physically outmatched in these high-pressure games, his missed shots seem to be a result of being bothered by opponent length and maybe letting the stress get to him, and he has really made some highly questionable decisions. That one-on-one drive on AD last night was absolutely insane.

Moore was theoretically supposed to be able to pick up a bit of ball handling and playmaking, but we didn't play him at all this year, so we have no idea what he's capable of, and he's probably more of a Prince/NAW-level ball handler anyway. Nowell's not a guy who give the keys to to initiate the offense. And Rivers has been on the bench so long now, he's sure to have too much rust. At this point, we've really gotta bench JMac for the rest of the playoffs unless absolutely necessary. Any non-Conley minutes should be covered by guys like Prince, NAW, and SloMo. And really, Conley should get ready to play 40+ minutes!

Getting a backup guard who can run the offense is this team's most obvious need in the offseason. Some of us were calling for this in the offseason (I know Lip called out Schroeder specifically), and even PatBev at the deadline seemed like a possibility. But whatever, it's water under the bridge. But going forward, we need to deal with this problem.

[Monster]

That was quite the game. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t finish it off.

Edwards just couldn’t get going for whatever reason. If he could have given them just about anything on offense they win the game.

This game encapsulated Towns. He was great for a chunk of the game then had some kinda stupid plays.

Nowell have them a little boast. He was a mixed bag but he at least got them some buckets and they needed them.

The good and bad Prince was out there too. It would have been fun if he hit that last 3 tho.

Conley what a game.

Meanwhile the Lakers barely beat a team missing 2 of their best players and Edwards barely did anything on offense. Somehow this doesn’t surprise me much.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Jmac the last two lakers games. 20 minutes, 0-10, 2 asts, 4 turnovers -26

Yeah, as a short baldy myself with a soft spot for guys who play hard despite limited skills, I love the guy.

But he seems clearly physically outmatched in these high-pressure games, his missed shots seem to be a result of being bothered by opponent length and maybe letting the stress get to him, and he has really made some highly questionable decisions. That one-on-one drive on AD last night was absolutely insane.

Moore was theoretically supposed to be able to pick up a bit of ball handling and playmaking, but we didn't play him at all this year, so we have no idea what he's capable of, and he's probably more of a Prince/NAW-level ball handler anyway. Nowell's not a guy who give the keys to to initiate the offense. And Rivers has been on the bench so long now, he's sure to have too much rust. At this point, we've really gotta bench JMac for the rest of the playoffs unless absolutely necessary. Any non-Conley minutes should be covered by guys like Prince, NAW, and SloMo. And really, Conley should get ready to play 40+ minutes!

Getting a backup guard who can run the offense is this team's most obvious need in the offseason. Some of us were calling for this in the offseason (I know Lip called out Schroeder specifically), and even PatBev at the deadline seemed like a possibility. But whatever, it's water under the bridge. But going forward, we need to deal with this problem.

So McLaughlin is NOT ready to be a starter? WHAT?!?!?!?!

In other news... I'm kinda surprised D. Russell isn't getting more heat around here. Yikes.

For one night at least, the Wolves trade sure seemed like a winner.

Russell: 1 - 9 fg (0 - 4 3fg) for 2 points.
Conley and NAW: 11 - 16 fg (7 - 9 3fg) for 34 points.


[Note: The Lakers vs. Grizzlies series will feature Tyus Jones vs. Dennis Schroder as backup PGs. Both have proven to come up big when the starter is hurt or sucks.]

[FNG]

I'm not smart enough to know if the stagnant offense by both teams for the final 12 minutes or so was because of vary bad cautious offense or because of great defense...I suspect it was a little of both. Both teams moved the ball so well for most of the game, but then went one on one at clutch time. It was almost unwatchable.

Still, it was an exciting game that left me both frustrated and confident about Friday night...and even the Nuggets series (although I don't expect us to beat them). But my optimism is based on an assumption that Ant is not hurt and Gobert is not hampered by his back spasms. We're a poor interior defense and rebounding team without Rudy, and it showed last night. LA is a team that many pundits have as their dark horse to come out of the West, and we played them almost dead even on their court despite missing 2 starters and our highest scoring reserve.

JMac and Nathan Knight's minutes were horrible, but we will need one of them against the Pels (who I think will beat the Thunder) and the Nuggets. As terrible as JMac was last night, I'm not sure we beat the Pelicans last Sunday without his 18 minutes. Kudos to Finchie for yanking Knight so quickly and for recognizing that JMac was off, but not having enough options to turn to left us totally gassed for the OT. He also had to see that Ant had nothing on offense last night, but he had to play him...and Ant at least was effective on defense.

So many inexplicable things last night. How can LA get away with putting Reaves on KAT? Come on Karl, you need to exploit that matchup. And this was far and away the worst I have seen Ant play on offense. Not only did he force and miss threes (0 for 9 with few open looks) and not get to the basket, he also held the ball way too long before throwing grenades to teammates. Those who say that Rudy clogs the middle have it backwards...what he actually does is screen well high in the key to open up the lane for guys like KAT and Ant. We need a healthy Rudy Friday night.

Finally, how is everyone feeling about the mid-season trade? NAW and Conley were both terrific last night, and for the second consecutive playoff game Russell wasn't able to get off the bench when the game was on the line. Dlo did have a couple nice pocket passes, but shot terribly and was his usual disaster on defense. It's not right to cheer for an injury, but I have to admit I got excited when Schroder got hurt, because it meant Ham would have to play DLo...but instead Schroder played most of the second half instead of DLo (just like the last game against the Lakers), and his +22 killed us. The trade has looked like grand theft larceny even before last night, but now even the most passionate Russell supporter has to love the deal. Conley is a winner, and DLo is not...nuff said.

Now let's hope Ant shakes this game off, and we blow out the Pelicans.

[FNG]

Abe, DLo isn't getting ripped much here because he is what almost all of us here thought he was...a complete sieve on defense who occasionally can win a game with some hot shooting. I gave DLo some credit above for one aspect of his game I think he is pretty good at. He is a smart player and recognized we have substandard interior defense without Rudy, and he reacted with some nice pocket passes in the paint...8 assists and only 1 turnover. But if he's not shooting well, his complete lack of defense makes him unplayable because smart teams are going to exploit him...and that was the story last night. Ham was so lucky Schroder was able to play through some pain, because they don't win the game if he has to play Russell with the game on the line.

[Wolvesfan21]

In the Timberwolves past 3 playoff/play-in games:

- Blow 13 point 2nd half lead vs. Memphis
- Blow 13 point 4th quarter lead vs. Memphis
- Blow 13 point 2nd half lead vs. Los Angeles

The Wolves were outscored 106 - 62 in the 4th quarter/OT of those games.




[Note: Nobody knows our pain.]

As soon as the Wolves went up 15, I put in a moneyline bet on the Lakers.

It's crazy how that has worked 19 times.

We've seen this before, it's no surprise!

I'm not sure KAT, Rudy and Finch should be back next season. Hand the keys to Ant and get a coach who can help him when defenses tighten up down the stretch. The offense looked horrendous in the 4th quarter. This trend is not good of blowing leads constantly.

[Wolvesfan21]

That was quite the game. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t finish it off.

Edwards just couldn’t get going for whatever reason. If he could have given them just about anything on offense they win the game.

This game encapsulated Towns. He was great for a chunk of the game then had some kinda stupid plays.

Nowell have them a little boast. He was a mixed bag but he at least got them some buckets and they needed them.

The good and bad Prince was out there too. It would have been fun if he hit that last 3 tho.

Conley what a game.

Meanwhile the Lakers barely beat a team missing 2 of their best players and Edwards barely did anything on offense. Somehow this doesn’t surprise me much.

That is what I posted yesterday. What happens to KAT over and over and over? He plays great on offense, commits too many fouls on both offense and defense getting into foul trouble. He takes himself off the floor and when he is on the floor in foul trouble he cannot defend without fouling out so he is a sieve at the rim.

For what KAT gives on offense he inevitably hurts the team by playing himself off the floor, fouls (turnovers and free throws) then poor defense after the fact. Then he's not a good rebounder either, we saw Davis dominant on KAT on the offensive boards.

This one game perfectly showed his career. Not even mentioning his mentality of crumbling under medium pressure games. 1st round of the playoffs and you blow up and foul out in 3 of them? You as the highest paid player need to be a reason we win, not the reason we lose.

Now this game wasn't exactly the reason we lost. Sure he played himself off the floor and couldn't score down the stretch or in OT, so he wasn't the reason why we could have won either.