Wolves at Nets GDT

[Jester1534]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

I’m not positive but I believe that 4th quarter was 15 pts and 9 turnovers they had no business winning that game

[BloopOracle]

Never a doubt, championship basketball on full display

[60WinTim]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

Hey, they are back in 1st place! And while the Thunder might overtake us again tomorrow night, they have to win at New Orleans to do it.

[Coolbreeze44]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

Guys worried about numbers instead of winning games

[Coolbreeze44]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

Hey, they are back in 1st place! And while the Thunder might overtake us again tomorrow night, they have to win at New Orleans to do it.

Monday is the big game

[Phenom]

It's a long season fellas. Being the top defense and playing at that level for months on end is not easy. This team is fully in the grind of the dog days right now and they are still holding on to the rope.

Ants 4th quarter play has been pretty tough to watch lately. I've seen a few mentions that maybe Finch should alter Ant's rotation. Playing the entire 3rd quarter every game might be catching up to him. I'd like to see Finchy take him out 8 or 9 minutes into the 3rd and let him play the final 8 or 9 minutes of the game. That might give him the requisite juice.

On the bright side Ant had one of the best defensive sequences of the season shutting down Bridges on that late possession.

[Lipoli390]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

The Wolves have allowed fewer points per game than any other team in the League. With some lapses, the Wolves have remained elite defensively. Meanwhile, only five teams have averaged fewer points per game than the Wolves and all of them are terrible teams - Spurs, Blazers, Grizzlies, Pistons, Hornets. And the Spurs have averaged almost as many points as the Wolves. There’s no getting around what the numbers tell us. The Wolves are a great defensive team, but a terrible offensive team. I’m surprised the Wolves have remained on top of the Western Conference as long as they have. But the absence of any improvement offensively and the ongoing propsentsity to turn the ball over are catching up with this team as other quality teams get healthy with their offensives fine tuned and running on all cylinders.

The Wolves are a very good team because of their defense. But overall, this team is not the top team in the West. It’s a team that fits more within the 3-6 range, probably around 4 or 5. Just a mediocre offensive and this team could be a legitimately contender for best in the West and a trip to the NBA finals. Ant’s youth and lack of offensive firepower off the bench are two major problems with the offense. Spacing with Rudy is much better than last season but it’s still a problem as is the excessive effort to get him the ball. Maybe these things can be fixed in the next month, but I don’t think so. We’ll have to see how far this team goes. Regarding what’s happened to this team, we’re seeing the team now as it is. The team was overachieving the first half of the season but reality is catching up with them. Nevertheless, there still a very good team and worth rooting for.

[Carlos Danger]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

The Wolves have allowed fewer points per game than any other team in the League. With some lapses, the Wolves have remained elite defensively. Meanwhile, only five teams have averaged fewer points per game than the Wolves and all of them are terrible teams - Spurs, Blazers, Grizzlies, Pistons, Hornets. And the Spurs have averaged almost as many points as the Wolves. There’s no getting around what the numbers tell us. The Wolves are a great defensive team, but a terrible offensive team. I’m surprised the Wolves have remained on top of the Western Conference as long as they have. But the absence of any improvement offensively and the ongoing propsentsity to turn the ball over are catching up with this team as other quality teams get healthy with their offensives fine tuned and running on all cylinders.

The Wolves are a very good team because of their defense. But overall, this team is not the top team in the West. It’s a team that fits more within the 3-6 range, probably around 4 or 5. Just a mediocre offensive and this team could be a legitimately contender for best in the West and a trip to the NBA finals. Ant’s youth and lack of offensive firepower off the bench are two major problems with the offense. Spacing with Rudy is much better than last season but it’s still a problem as is the excessive effort to get him the ball. Maybe these things can be fixed in the next month, but I don’t think so. We’ll have to see how far this team goes. Regarding what’s happened to this team, we’re seeing the team now as it is. The team was overachieving the first half of the season but reality is catching up with them. Nevertheless, there still a very good team and worth rooting for.

I wouldn't go so far as to say we are a terrible offensive team. I feel like the offense hasn't played to it's potential (yet). As is, we are just a couple points off from being a middle of pack offense with regards to points/game.

It's the turnovers (which you hit on) that seems to be the bigger issue. We are 28th out of 30 teams with regard to turning the ball over. That would seem like something they could work on/get better at. Adding another vet PG could help too.

They lean on SloMo a lot, but I see he has a team high 17.9 Turnover percentage. Compare that to a guy like Conley who's at 10.9%. Those extra possessions would equal a lot more points. BTW, Towns is second worse at 14% turnover percentage. Stop trying to ask our bigs to be point guards and the turnovers should go down. Lower turnovers should equate to more points and suddenly our offense looks a lot better.

[FNG]

What has happened to this team? This isn't the same team we watched a month ago.

The Wolves have allowed fewer points per game than any other team in the League. With some lapses, the Wolves have remained elite defensively. Meanwhile, only five teams have averaged fewer points per game than the Wolves and all of them are terrible teams - Spurs, Blazers, Grizzlies, Pistons, Hornets. And the Spurs have averaged almost as many points as the Wolves. There’s no getting around what the numbers tell us. The Wolves are a great defensive team, but a terrible offensive team. I’m surprised the Wolves have remained on top of the Western Conference as long as they have. But the absence of any improvement offensively and the ongoing propsentsity to turn the ball over are catching up with this team as other quality teams get healthy with their offensives fine tuned and running on all cylinders.

The Wolves are a very good team because of their defense. But overall, this team is not the top team in the West. It’s a team that fits more within the 3-6 range, probably around 4 or 5. Just a mediocre offensive and this team could be a legitimately contender for best in the West and a trip to the NBA finals. Ant’s youth and lack of offensive firepower off the bench are two major problems with the offense. Spacing with Rudy is much better than last season but it’s still a problem as is the excessive effort to get him the ball. Maybe these things can be fixed in the next month, but I don’t think so. We’ll have to see how far this team goes. Regarding what’s happened to this team, we’re seeing the team now as it is. The team was overachieving the first half of the season but reality is catching up with them. Nevertheless, there still a very good team and worth rooting for.

I wouldn't go so far as to say we are a terrible offensive team. I feel like the offense hasn't played to it's potential (yet). As is, we are just a couple points off from being a middle of pack offense with regards to points/game.

It's the turnovers (which you hit on) that seems to be the bigger issue. We are 28th out of 30 teams with regard to turning the ball over. That would seem like something they could work on/get better at. Adding another vet PG could help too.

They lean on SloMo a lot, but I see he has a team high 17.9 Turnover percentage. Compare that to a guy like Conley who's at 10.9%. Those extra possessions would equal a lot more points. BTW, Towns is second worse at 14% turnover percentage. Stop trying to ask our bigs to be point guards and the turnovers should go down. Lower turnovers should equate to more points and suddenly our offense looks a lot better.

While you and Lip are correct that we have a turnover issue, I agree with you that we are far from a terrible offensive team. I would say we are a dominant elite defensive team, and a slightly above average offensive team. It's true that we are only 21st in PPG, but pace of play has a lot to do with that. Our swarming defense leads to long defensive possessions (and accordingly fewer offensive possessions), and Ant's incessant dribbling leads to offensive possessions that go deep in the clock. When evaluating our offense, I think it's meaningful to look at shooting percentages...we are an elite 3-point shooting team (3rd in the Association), and a very good overall shooting team (9th). The Wolves rank 7th in TS%, so we are definitely an efficient scoring team.

I would say the Wolves' offense is a mixed bag...a very good shooting team, and a very bad turnover team. I still think we can win an NBA championship without fixing the TO issue (case in point...we're in first place in the West despite our careless ballhandling), but I think there is agreement here about how we can fix our TO problem...fewer possessions forcing the ball into Rudy, fewer wild drives to the basket by Ant, and fewer offensive fouls by KAT.

[Q-is-here]

The Wolves have allowed fewer points per game than any other team in the League. With some lapses, the Wolves have remained elite defensively. Meanwhile, only five teams have averaged fewer points per game than the Wolves and all of them are terrible teams - Spurs, Blazers, Grizzlies, Pistons, Hornets. And the Spurs have averaged almost as many points as the Wolves. There’s no getting around what the numbers tell us. The Wolves are a great defensive team, but a terrible offensive team. I’m surprised the Wolves have remained on top of the Western Conference as long as they have. But the absence of any improvement offensively and the ongoing propsentsity to turn the ball over are catching up with this team as other quality teams get healthy with their offensives fine tuned and running on all cylinders.

The Wolves are a very good team because of their defense. But overall, this team is not the top team in the West. It’s a team that fits more within the 3-6 range, probably around 4 or 5. Just a mediocre offensive and this team could be a legitimately contender for best in the West and a trip to the NBA finals. Ant’s youth and lack of offensive firepower off the bench are two major problems with the offense. Spacing with Rudy is much better than last season but it’s still a problem as is the excessive effort to get him the ball. Maybe these things can be fixed in the next month, but I don’t think so. We’ll have to see how far this team goes. Regarding what’s happened to this team, we’re seeing the team now as it is. The team was overachieving the first half of the season but reality is catching up with them. Nevertheless, there still a very good team and worth rooting for.

I wouldn't go so far as to say we are a terrible offensive team. I feel like the offense hasn't played to it's potential (yet). As is, we are just a couple points off from being a middle of pack offense with regards to points/game.

It's the turnovers (which you hit on) that seems to be the bigger issue. We are 28th out of 30 teams with regard to turning the ball over. That would seem like something they could work on/get better at. Adding another vet PG could help too.

They lean on SloMo a lot, but I see he has a team high 17.9 Turnover percentage. Compare that to a guy like Conley who's at 10.9%. Those extra possessions would equal a lot more points. BTW, Towns is second worse at 14% turnover percentage. Stop trying to ask our bigs to be point guards and the turnovers should go down. Lower turnovers should equate to more points and suddenly our offense looks a lot better.

While you and Lip are correct that we have a turnover issue, I agree with you that we are far from a terrible offensive team. I would say we are a dominant elite defensive team, and a slightly above average offensive team. It's true that we are only 21st in PPG, but pace of play has a lot to do with that. Our swarming defense leads to long defensive possessions (and accordingly fewer offensive possessions), and Ant's incessant dribbling leads to offensive possessions that go deep in the clock. When evaluating our offense, I think it's meaningful to look at shooting percentages...we are an elite 3-point shooting team (3rd in the Association), and a very good overall shooting team (9th). The Wolves rank 7th in TS%, so we are definitely an efficient scoring team.

I would say the Wolves' offense is a mixed bag...a very good shooting team, and a very bad turnover team. I still think we can win an NBA championship without fixing the TO issue (case in point...we're in first place in the West despite our careless ballhandling), but I think there is agreement here about how we can fix our TO problem...fewer possessions forcing the ball into Rudy, fewer wild drives to the basket by Ant, and fewer offensive fouls by KAT.

FNG, We're 19th in Offensive Rating when you look at it on a per 100 possession basis, which takes pace of play out of the equation. In other words, we are indeed a below average offense and we've basically been in the same spot all year. It's hardly moved.

I think winning the Finals is a stretch, not because I think the Wolves have zero chance in terms of talent and coaching. It's because when you dig into the numbers beyond W-L record, there is nothing that indicates we are truly the 2nd best team in the NBA. Boston on the other hand is legit the best team in the NBA.

If you look at Point Differential as another stat, the Clippers, Boston, Philly, and OKC are all better than the Wolves.

Here is the way I look at it. Take a hat and seven pieces of paper out. On those seven pieces of paper, write the following teams: Wolves, Sixers, Clippers, Celtics, Thunder, Nuggets, and Bucks. Now close your eyes and draw a piece of paper out of the hat. That's basically our odds of winning a title and I'm being generous when you consider the experience of some of the other top end players with the other teams, except the Thunder. And I totally excluded dark horses like the Pelicans and Suns.