Thunder GDT

[KiwiMatt]

One of the best wins this season.

Won against the bounce of the ball and the officiating.

Hate to harp on about it but the Timberwolves need to start putting heat of the league for these constant non-calls on Ant and KAT.

It appears it's easier to get foul calls in this league playing the 'finesse and flop' game like Shai than it is to drive to the hoop with pure aggression, getting hacked more often than once and still not get a call like Ant. I'm sick of it, and it's gonna cost us.

Shai shot more FT's tonight than the entire Wolves team who attacked the rim all night. Ant got 4, Shai got 16.

I'm so happy we won.

Just send the video to League of Shai pushing off so bad with his off arm that he punched McDaniels in the balls lol.

Yea and I will also send the photo I saw on social media of Ant’s highlight dunk in the 4th quarter where Shai is literally holding Ants forearm while he’s dunking and he still didn’t get a foul call lol.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's Late Night Adoration DVR Review:

- Gutty win. That was a hard-nosed basketball game. Contact all over the place. Two teams competing hard.

- Now... the compete part. Just imagine if the Wolves competed like that vs. Charlotte and San Antonio. On one hand, we hear "it's a long 82-game season." On the other hand, we expect high school players (heck middle school players) being paid nothing to compete hard every time out. (Just ask the kids I've coached for chrissakes.) Some of these NBA guys make more money in one quarter of one game than most people on this forum. Yes... the money matters. That's a lot of frickin' money.

- Now that I've burned my soapbox... the Jordan McLaughlin game. Obviously, we shouldn't expect 4 - 4 fg... and the team still desperately needs something better for this season and the next ones at the point. But for one night, he played his role wonderfully.

- This was one of those games where it looked like the Timberwolves had to work harder than the opponent for their buckets. Usually, that tips the scale over time. Not tonight.

- As someone else said, I think most/all of SGA's foul shots were legit. (or at least not as egregious as other games) But damn. Edwards and Towns have a point sometimes. It makes it especially galling that it was SGA who fouled Edwards on the dunk.

- At the same time, kudos to Finch. I know we want to throw chairs and kick and scream. But the goal is to win the game. And the Wolves overcame perceived poor officiating to win a big game. That goes a lot further in the grand scheme of things.

- L. Dort and Holmgren combined to shoot 2 - 16. Again, we'll take it. Just a rough game for Holmgren. Gobert bullied him a couple of times.

- Minnesota basically went with an 8-man rotation. OKC ran with a 10-man rotation. They're just a deeper team. And with ALL of those draft picks while Minnesota has so little in the cupboard... yikes. OKC is going to be a problem for a long time. Talented. Tough. And well coached.

- Only 13 TOs against physical, pressure defense tonight. In a way it makes some of those other TO-prone games even more inexplicable. But whatever... just a tough, gritty win. And it feels great to be the #1 seed this late in the season.

- Fun.

[ItsJustSoSab]

What a win, just got done watching the highlights and even with a lot cut out you could see how tough the game was. Just when I start having doubts...they pull me back in. Man, this sure beats the days of us posting fantasy trade ideas and then arguing over them half way through the season (because it was already over by then).

[Jester1534]

One of the best wins this season.

Won against the bounce of the ball and the officiating.

Hate to harp on about it but the Timberwolves need to start putting heat of the league for these constant non-calls on Ant and KAT.

It appears it's easier to get foul calls in this league playing the 'finesse and flop' game like Shai than it is to drive to the hoop with pure aggression, getting hacked more often than once and still not get a call like Ant. I'm sick of it, and it's gonna cost us.

Shai shot more FT's tonight than the entire Wolves team who attacked the rim all night. Ant got 4, Shai got 16.

I'm so happy we won.

Just send the video to League of Shai pushing off so bad with his off arm that he punched McDaniels in the balls lol.

Yea and I will also send the photo I saw on social media of Ant’s highlight dunk in the 4th quarter where Shai is literally holding Ants forearm while he’s dunking and he still didn’t get a foul call lol.

https://www.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/s/iHdkFhKaLZ

I believe Jaden is now pregnant with Shai child. I believe that’s how babies are made lol

[KiwiMatt]

Just send the video to League of Shai pushing off so bad with his off arm that he punched McDaniels in the balls lol.

Yea and I will also send the photo I saw on social media of Ant’s highlight dunk in the 4th quarter where Shai is literally holding Ants forearm while he’s dunking and he still didn’t get a foul call lol.

https://www.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/s/iHdkFhKaLZ

I believe Jaden is now pregnant with Shai child. I believe that’s how babies are made lol

Shai certainly got all ball lol

[Q-is-here]

Abe's Late Night Adoration DVR Review:

- Gutty win. That was a hard-nosed basketball game. Contact all over the place. Two teams competing hard.

- Now... the compete part. Just imagine if the Wolves competed like that vs. Charlotte and San Antonio. On one hand, we hear "it's a long 82-game season." On the other hand, we expect high school players (heck middle school players) being paid nothing to compete hard every time out. (Just ask the kids I've coached for chrissakes.) Some of these NBA guys make more money in one quarter of one game than most people on this forum. Yes... the money matters. That's a lot of frickin' money.

- Now that I've burned my soapbox... the Jordan McLaughlin game. Obviously, we shouldn't expect 4 - 4 fg... and the team still desperately needs something better for this season and the next ones at the point. But for one night, he played his role wonderfully.

- This was one of those games where it looked like the Timberwolves had to work harder than the opponent for their buckets. Usually, that tips the scale over time. Not tonight.

- As someone else said, I think most/all of SGA's foul shots were legit. (or at least not as egregious as other games) But damn. Edwards and Towns have a point sometimes. It makes it especially galling that it was SGA who fouled Edwards on the dunk.

- At the same time, kudos to Finch. I know we want to throw chairs and kick and scream. But the goal is to win the game. And the Wolves overcame perceived poor officiating to win a big game. That goes a lot further in the grand scheme of things.

- L. Dort and Holmgren combined to shoot 2 - 16. Again, we'll take it. Just a rough game for Holmgren. Gobert bullied him a couple of times.

- Minnesota basically went with an 8-man rotation. OKC ran with a 10-man rotation. They're just a deeper team. And with ALL of those draft picks while Minnesota has so little in the cupboard... yikes. OKC is going to be a problem for a long time. Talented. Tough. And well coached.

- Only 13 TOs against physical, pressure defense tonight. In a way it makes some of those other TO-prone games even more inexplicable. But whatever... just a tough, gritty win. And it feels great to be the #1 seed this late in the season.

- Fun.

Abe, they had McDaniels on Holmgren quite a lot too, so credit to Jaden.

I have to give Chet a lot of credit overall. I actually think he gets kind of a bad whistle and can be bullied to a degree. But he just keeps going with minimal drama. Hasn't missed a game and is a legit two-way player.

That whole team is sort of machine-like in the way they move, pass, and keep their composure. It's impressive, but I'm also becoming increasingly annoyed by them!

[FNG]

I was really looking forward to this one, but with Bite Bite out again, I don’t like our chances.

But there is a reason they still play the games!

Tim, I bow down before your NBA wisdom! I told my gal that we were going to skip this game and go out to dinner after I heard Daddy was out, but she said no...we're watching. And what a game! I maintained my pessimism throughout the game and kept saying "we're not going to win this one". I've never been so happy to be wrong.

What a defense this club has! NAW and Jaden are elite on the perimeter, Ant can shut down his man whin he wants to, KAT has learned it's easier to play defense when he don't hang back complaining to the refs, and Rudy is a dominant force at the rim. Defense wins championships, and we are clearly #1 in the league. And a special gift to all of us fans who have lamented our poor shooting for so many years...we are one of the best shooting teams in the Association. 48.3% on threes last night against a good defensive team. Whoever thought great defense and shooting could win basketball games?

Now...let's talk about the reffing. Almost 50% of the posts in the GDT are about the poor calls, and I don't disagree. But we need to be realistic about why. Is there some big conspiracy theory in the NBA to help the smallest market in the NBA (OkC) win? Of course not. Big market teams sometimes get the breaks, but not little OkC. There are two reasons Shae gets calls and Ant doesn't: First, Shae knows how to draw fouls and Ant does not...we can complain about Harden-like behavior all we want, but we can't argue that it isn't effective. Ant needs to learn from the Shae's in the Association, and if he does, he will enter elite status. Second, Ant constantly whines about calls and Shae doesn't. I umpired baseball games for many years, and I can tell you that the more likable player always gets the close calls. Umpires and referees are proud of their work, and despise someone who criticizes them...and that's Ant's fault. Last night was not the referees' fault...there's no conspiracy here. It's all on Ant. He needs to shut up and quit whining on almost every offensive play. It's tiring for me as a fan, and I know it pisses off the referees. Ant, be more like Shae, and you'll become a better player.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yep.

I've been on record that every team needs to have an assistant coach dedicated to teaching players how to manipulate officials. I'm 100% serious. They're taught to officiate in specific ways. The smartest players know how to manipulate that.

Heck, I'm pretty sure this is already happening.

[davemang]

Now...let's talk about the reffing. Almost 50% of the posts in the GDT are about the poor calls, and I don't disagree. But we need to be realistic about why. Is there some big conspiracy theory in the NBA to help the smallest market in the NBA (OkC) win? Of course not. Big market teams sometimes get the breaks, but not little OkC. There are two reasons Shae gets calls and Ant doesn't: First, Shae knows how to draw fouls and Ant does not...we can complain about Harden-like behavior all we want, but we can't argue that it isn't effective. Ant needs to learn from the Shae's in the Association, and if he does, he will enter elite status. Second, Ant constantly whines about calls and Shae doesn't. I umpired baseball games for many years, and I can tell you that the more likable player always gets the close calls. Umpires and referees are proud of their work, and despise someone who criticizes them...and that's Ant's fault. Last night was not the referees' fault...there's no conspiracy here. It's all on Ant. He needs to shut up and quit whining on almost every offensive play. It's tiring for me as a fan, and I know it pisses off the referees. Ant, be more like Shae, and you'll become a better player.

It's a bit of a catch-22 though - Shai gets a favorable whistle so he's got nothing to complain about while getting 16 FTA. If he got Ant's whistle last night I think he'd be complaining just as much. He does seem to do what the NBA seems to want players to do to get foul calls with all the head snapping back, extended arm driving into defenders just to draw fouls. We've seen that from the hardens, Embiids, and CP3s (among others) over the years get lots of regular season calls this way. The refs seem to swallow the whistle on these foul merchants come playoff time and we've seen Harden, Embiid (although he's had poorly timed injuries as well), and even CP3 struggle in the playoffs when they're not getting the baited calls, so hopefully Ant playing the game aggressively and looking to score through contact versus trying to foul bait will pay off in the post season.

Ant had a really nasty play where Chet grabbed all arm on a dunk attempt (where they called the offensive basket interference) causing ant to miss the dunk and lose his grip on the rim, falling on his back. Luckily he didn't get hurt, but you can tell no one is afraid to recklessly challenge him since there is a high chance they won't call an obvious foul. I'd be pissed too if getting a shit whistle could lead to being injured. Also, we've seen KAT have no change in his whistle this year despite his overall complain level being much reduced (still has his moments and has a history of being a complainer though). He does complain too much and needs to pick his spots better, but it's gotta be tough defending Shai and getting whistled up for 10% of the contact that would still be a no call on Ant.

[Coolbreeze44]

Abe's Late Night Adoration DVR Review:

- Gutty win. That was a hard-nosed basketball game. Contact all over the place. Two teams competing hard.

- Now... the compete part. Just imagine if the Wolves competed like that vs. Charlotte and San Antonio. On one hand, we hear "it's a long 82-game season." On the other hand, we expect high school players (heck middle school players) being paid nothing to compete hard every time out. (Just ask the kids I've coached for chrissakes.) Some of these NBA guys make more money in one quarter of one game than most people on this forum. Yes... the money matters. That's a lot of frickin' money.

- Now that I've burned my soapbox... the Jordan McLaughlin game. Obviously, we shouldn't expect 4 - 4 fg... and the team still desperately needs something better for this season and the next ones at the point. But for one night, he played his role wonderfully.

- This was one of those games where it looked like the Timberwolves had to work harder than the opponent for their buckets. Usually, that tips the scale over time. Not tonight.

- As someone else said, I think most/all of SGA's foul shots were legit. (or at least not as egregious as other games) But damn. Edwards and Towns have a point sometimes. It makes it especially galling that it was SGA who fouled Edwards on the dunk.

- At the same time, kudos to Finch. I know we want to throw chairs and kick and scream. But the goal is to win the game. And the Wolves overcame perceived poor officiating to win a big game. That goes a lot further in the grand scheme of things.

- L. Dort and Holmgren combined to shoot 2 - 16. Again, we'll take it. Just a rough game for Holmgren. Gobert bullied him a couple of times.

- Minnesota basically went with an 8-man rotation. OKC ran with a 10-man rotation. They're just a deeper team. And with ALL of those draft picks while Minnesota has so little in the cupboard... yikes. OKC is going to be a problem for a long time. Talented. Tough. And well coached.

- Only 13 TOs against physical, pressure defense tonight. In a way it makes some of those other TO-prone games even more inexplicable. But whatever... just a tough, gritty win. And it feels great to be the #1 seed this late in the season.

- Fun.

Abe, they had McDaniels on Holmgren quite a lot too, so credit to Jaden.

I have to give Chet a lot of credit overall. I actually think he gets kind of a bad whistle and can be bullied to a degree. But he just keeps going with minimal drama. Hasn't missed a game and is a legit two-way player.

That whole team is sort of machine-like in the way they move, pass, and keep their composure. It's impressive, but I'm also becoming increasingly annoyed by them!

Your last sentence encapsulates my feelings exactly. I do like the way they play, but they bother me. That includes the coach and his mostly stoic demeanor.