Mavs/Wolves GDT

[kekgeek]

Frustrating win if one can say that.

I’ll never complain about winning but man they played probably a D game. Now it’s nice that a D game from the wolves can beat a G league team

[Coolbreeze44]

I haven't read the thread so I'm not sure what the narrative has been, but I have a take on why tonights game was competitive. It may sound strange but tell me if you get what I'm saying. I think Ant was the primary reason we didn't blow out the Mavs tonight. We had them on the ropes early with everybody seemingly ready to play. When we got up by about 10, Ant decided he was going to play one on five and spent most of the rest of the first quarter doing so. As a result everyone stood around on offense and got out of rhythm. Ant stayed in rhythm because he was dominating the ball. But let's be real, if the ball movement had continued we would have won that game going away. Ant ended up with great numbers but I think he hurt us more than he helped. The broadcast team was fawning all over him all night, made me cringe.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Late Night DVR Review:

- Well... they won. And that's all anybody will remember.

- Towns. Good gawd. There are two things here. (1) He absolutely gets a terrible whistle. Just terrible. (2) He had five offensive fouls tonight. He leads the league every season. He hooks. He shoves. He pushes. And... he just doesn't get it. The guy is owed a lot of money very soon and is STILL the logical choice to be moved. In games like tonight, I sway toward being cool with that. And it's not entirely that he's out of control. It's that he's not going to get that whistle at this point in his career... and actually seems to be sort of a target at this point for officials. He'll never live up to his contract under those circumstances. A sad and telling realization, but that's NBA basketball in 2024... when how you're officiated is more important than ever before.

- I believe it was FIVE failed alley-oop attempts to Gobert. They all had a 2022/23 vibe to them.

- Woulda been a good game to lay off the heavy minutes. Instead, the teams two most important players (Gobert and Edwards) played 38.

- Edwards has 31 free throws in the past two games. That's a good trend... a very necessary thing. And yet, very few of them felt contrived or gimmicky.

- The 1st half TOs were embarrassing. The Timberwolves are one of the worst teams in the league with TOs (had 22 tonight and 21 vs. OKC). TOs... and a lack of three point shooting... needs to be resolved as the season progresses.

- As Q and Cool mentioned... Edwards did Edwards things again in this one. I'm a broken record at this point. It's just who he is... both good and bad.

- The overall effort and intensity has been off for the past two games. It's not unexpected. We'll see if things turn around vs. the Lakers.

- Michael Nori is REALLY trying to make a name for himself... and it's gaining traction. At halftime vs. OKC, he quipped about the Grinch stealing the Wolves defense and tonight he said the Wolves had more turnovers in the first half than your corner bakery.

- Also broadcast related... Grady and Peterson are among the best in the business. Was that Rebecca Brunson tonight? Yikes. I know she's been around, but I thought she was gawd-awful as the sideline reporter. Stilted voice that was yelling a lot of the time. It was bad. Just a rough listen.

[FNG]

Frustrating win if one can say that.

I’ll never complain about winning but man they played probably a D game. Now it’s nice that a D game from the wolves can beat a G league team

Well, I will complain, because I'm pretty sure Finchie did a lot of complaining in the locker room post game (in fact I just read Jon K's gamer...Finchie is not happy). Wins are all good for the standings, but they are not equal...and this one particularly stunk. This is a championship level team...we've proven that throughout the first 1/3 of the season. But we were not at all at that level tonight. Sloppy defense, poor ball movement, and a horrendous assist/turnover count of 23/22...only the absence of Luka and Kyrie allowed us to win this one, because Dallas played a better game than we did.

Ant has to be enormously frustrating to coach. He has more talent than 95% of the players in the Association, but how do you bring it out every night? Some nights he shows up big time on defense, other times he doesn't seem to care like last night (thank God for Rudy, Jaden, NAW and Bite Bite last night). I loved his shot making and his 44 points, but despise his ignoring wide open teammates. But the thing that pisses me off most about him is his indifferent passing once he realizes he doesn't have a chance for a shot. He gets rid of the ball often in an incredibly careless way...sometimes throwing the ball over a teammates' head, and often throwing an off-target pass that doesn't allow his teammate a chance to shoot (contrast that with Bite Bite, who almost always seems to put his passes in exactly the right place).

So what can Finchie do...yank a guy out of the game who is carrying us with his scoring? Seems foolish, but maybe? Finchie took some responsibility for the offensive failures post game, and maybe that was an acknowledgement that he needs to do something when he sees a team mostly playing hero ball. Lets' see if it's just talk, or if he really intends to coach this team up on offense.

If only there was a guy on the bench who always focuses on moving the ball in the few minutes he gets to see the court. If only...

[FNG]

One more comment about SloMo after a poor game. The most meaningful part of the game might have been his hitting a near 3-pointer and then an actual 3-pointer on the next possession. Defenses have been giving him this shot, and he needs to take it occasionally to keep them honest. Sure, it's an ugly set shot. But SloMo has to remember that the past three seasons he has gone 36%, 33% and 41% on threes. Even if he matches the worst of those three seasons, that's still a shot he needs to take.

[Q-is-here]

One more comment about SloMo after a poor game. The most meaningful part of the game might have been his hitting a near 3-pointer and then an actual 3-pointer on the next possession. Defenses have been giving him this shot, and he needs to take it occasionally to keep them honest. Sure, it's an ugly set shot. But SloMo has to remember that the past three seasons he has gone 36%, 33% and 41% on threes. Even if he matches the worst of those three seasons, that's still a shot he needs to take.

SloMo is a career 38% corner 3 shooter, including going over 40% from the corners in the prior two seasons. I think he needs to lean into that shot, while driving into space when otherwise left wide open from the top of the arc or in the slots.

[Q-is-here]

Frustrating win if one can say that.

I’ll never complain about winning but man they played probably a D game. Now it’s nice that a D game from the wolves can beat a G league team

Well, I will complain, because I'm pretty sure Finchie did a lot of complaining in the locker room post game (in fact I just read Jon K's gamer...Finchie is not happy). Wins are all good for the standings, but they are not equal...and this one particularly stunk. This is a championship level team...we've proven that throughout the first 1/3 of the season. But we were not at all at that level tonight. Sloppy defense, poor ball movement, and a horrendous assist/turnover count of 23/22...only the absence of Luka and Kyrie allowed us to win this one, because Dallas played a better game than we did.

Ant has to be enormously frustrating to coach. He has more talent than 95% of the players in the Association, but how do you bring it out every night? Some nights he shows up big time on defense, other times he doesn't seem to care like last night (thank God for Rudy, Jaden, NAW and Bite Bite last night). I loved his shot making and his 44 points, but despise his ignoring wide open teammates. But the thing that pisses me off most about him is his indifferent passing once he realizes he doesn't have a chance for a shot. He gets rid of the ball often in an incredibly careless way...sometimes throwing the ball over a teammates' head, and often throwing an off-target pass that doesn't allow his teammate a chance to shoot (contrast that with Bite Bite, who almost always seems to put his passes in exactly the right place).

So what can Finchie do...yank a guy out of the game who is carrying us with his scoring? Seems foolish, but maybe? Finchie took some responsibility for the offensive failures post game, and maybe that was an acknowledgement that he needs to do something when he sees a team mostly playing hero ball. Lets' see if it's just talk, or if he really intends to coach this team up on offense.

If only there was a guy on the bench who always focuses on moving the ball in the few minutes he gets to see the court. If only...

Yeah, I think the idea of "point Ant" continues to be put on hold. The thing is, I've seen him make some pinpoint passes to Rudy this year which weren't just obvious ally oops, so he has it in him, but he's just so inconsistent in both his willingness and execution.

I was at first against the notion of getting Tyus Jones since I feel like our offense needs a volume 3-point sniper more than anything, but I'm having second thoughts. Is Mike Conley really going to be fully healthy and fresh by the time the playoffs roll around? Ant and KAT clearly can't be trusted to run half court sets and SloMo has been solid, but he's not a pure point guard. Little Mac is a nice player in the regular season, but gets targeted in the playoffs.

So I'm on the fence now about what kind of player we should add. Despite our sparkling record, I still don't feel like we are playoff-ready yet.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I’ll never complain about winning but man they played probably a D game. Now it’s nice that a D game from the wolves can beat a G league team

Well, I will complain, because I'm pretty sure Finchie did a lot of complaining in the locker room post game (in fact I just read Jon K's gamer...Finchie is not happy). Wins are all good for the standings, but they are not equal...and this one particularly stunk. This is a championship level team...we've proven that throughout the first 1/3 of the season. But we were not at all at that level tonight. Sloppy defense, poor ball movement, and a horrendous assist/turnover count of 23/22...only the absence of Luka and Kyrie allowed us to win this one, because Dallas played a better game than we did.

Ant has to be enormously frustrating to coach. He has more talent than 95% of the players in the Association, but how do you bring it out every night? Some nights he shows up big time on defense, other times he doesn't seem to care like last night (thank God for Rudy, Jaden, NAW and Bite Bite last night). I loved his shot making and his 44 points, but despise his ignoring wide open teammates. But the thing that pisses me off most about him is his indifferent passing once he realizes he doesn't have a chance for a shot. He gets rid of the ball often in an incredibly careless way...sometimes throwing the ball over a teammates' head, and often throwing an off-target pass that doesn't allow his teammate a chance to shoot (contrast that with Bite Bite, who almost always seems to put his passes in exactly the right place).

So what can Finchie do...yank a guy out of the game who is carrying us with his scoring? Seems foolish, but maybe? Finchie took some responsibility for the offensive failures post game, and maybe that was an acknowledgement that he needs to do something when he sees a team mostly playing hero ball. Lets' see if it's just talk, or if he really intends to coach this team up on offense.

If only there was a guy on the bench who always focuses on moving the ball in the few minutes he gets to see the court. If only...

Yeah, I think the idea of "point Ant" continues to be put on hold. The thing is, I've seen him make some pinpoint passes to Rudy this year which weren't just obvious ally oops, so he has it in him, but he's just so inconsistent in both his willingness and execution.

I was at first against the notion of getting Tyus Jones since I feel like our offense needs a volume 3-point sniper more than anything, but I'm having second thoughts. Is Mike Conley really going to be fully healthy and fresh by the time the playoffs roll around? Ant and KAT clearly can't be trusted to run half court sets and SloMo has been solid, but he's not a pure point guard. Little Mac is a nice player in the regular season, but gets targeted in the playoffs.

So I'm on the fence now about what kind of player we should add. Despite our sparkling record, I still don't feel like we are playoff-ready yet.

Tyus Jones is a bit of a poor man's Mike Conley. A caretaker type. After seeing it in action, I like the idea of a guy who knows how to get talented teammates the ball at the right times. A guy who won't be hunting for stats.

But can he hit enough three pointers (volume)? He's taking 3.5 per game right now at a 42.5% clip. It's lost in the woe of Wizards despair, but the guy has a 62% TS this year for Washington.




[Note: One thing I forgot to mention that's getting attention on broadcasts... Mike Conley after making a mistake. Several times now, he'll turn it over, then become hellbent on making up for it with a steal. I remember playing with a guy like that... he seemed like the second coming of Michael Jordan in those first 5 seconds after screwing up.]

[FNG]

Abe, great point about the effectiveness of post-mistake Bite Bite. So many players make a dumb foul after a turnover or other mistake, but Conley so often responds with a great play...he did it again last night. He is the consummate professional.

[DNatagal]

I thought Finch was supposed to be a genius offensive whiz? This doesn't look like an organized offense. It is either Conley and Gobert screening until something happens, KAT setting a screen and then going 1 on 5, or Ant getting the ball after standing in the corner for 8 seconds and then going 1 on 5. The lack of movement, properly set screens, and lack of creativity caused by the ball watching is hard to fathom on a team that is 23-7. If the Wolves weren't so talented going 1- on 5, they would be every Wolves team up until now, .500 or less right now.