KAT tore his meniscus

[Q-is-here]

I hereby declare that I have NOT torn my meniscus.

[Carlos Danger]

I hereby declare that I have NOT torn my meniscus.

Hahaha - no kidding! It's easy to see what drew most of this group together...the the torn meniscus therapy group!

[Carlos Danger]

Based on this report, the goal is to have KAT back for the playoffs:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/396 ... n-meniscus

[Coolbreeze44]

Embarrassing but true story. The first time I tore my meniscus was while coaching. I was never the type to get into it with the officials, in fact I can honestly say that i never received a technical over the thousand or so games i coached. But one time down in Texas I reacted to a call by jumping in the air and doing a 360. When I landed, the twisting motion popped it. You can only imagine the ridicule that followed.

[Carlos Danger]

Embarrassing but true story. The first time I tore my meniscus was while coaching. I was never the type to get into it with the officials, in fact I can honestly say that i never received a technical over the thousand or so games i coached. But one time down in Texas I reacted to a call by jumping in the air and doing a 360. When I landed, the twisting motion popped it. You can only imagine the ridicule that followed.

Is it possible Towns tore his the same way (turning around to complain)? Just busting chops!!! Get well soon Karl.

[WildWolf2813]

Big opportunity for Jaden to get a few more offensive touches. I really hope the result of these games without Kat is going to more options on the roster rather than just more Ant iso.

If Jaden doesn't step up in these next 20 games, we're gonna realize we grossly overpaid for his services.

Wild, haven't you already made that judgement?

the excuses for Jaden doing nothing else but playing defense have been there. With KAT out, he's gonna have a sample size that proves whether we paid double for a Herb Jones type of player.

[Lipoli390]

I don’t think there’s a solution to losing KAT’s defense. But so far, I don’t see losing KAT’s defense as the problem. We held the Cavs under 100 points last night. The problem last night against the Cavs was our offense - terrible perimeter shooting. Ant was obviously exhausted and sore, so we needed more offensive from others and didn’t get it. And if Ant had hit just one of his 7 three-point attempts the Wolves would have won - in spite of the suspect officiating and Rudy’s really dumb technical foul. That’s against a really good team on the road. The previous night this team beat Indiana thanks to Ant’s incredible offensive performance. Our defense was good enough against the Pacers but Ant had to carry the team offensively almost entirely on his own.

Our defense has been very good overall in the two games since KAT went down. Other than the tendency to turn the ball over, this team’s Achilles heal all season has always been a lack of offensive firepower and offensive depth. Losing KAT exposes our Achilles heal even more. We have a lot of defensive depth with Rudy, Jaden, Ant, NAW, Slo Mo, and even Conley. So we can hold up on the defensive end without KAT for 20 games. But our offensive depth is comparatively very shallow - Ant, KAT, and Naz. Losing KAT’s defense is a problem, but losing KAT’s offense is a bigger problem and one that I don’t think we can overcome. We’re not just missing KAT’s 22 points per game. We’re also missing the attention he draws from defenders, which opens up opportunities for others on the floor.

The fate of this team down the stretch, and in the playoffs, will likely turn on whether some other players on the current roster can step up and fill the offensive void in KAT’s absence. Naz can contribute more offensively as he did last night, but he was already averaging 13 points per game and I don’t see getting more than an additional 10 from him at most and some of the additional points he adds will be lost to the defensive drop from KAT to Naz. I see only two possibilities for significantly filling the offensive void - Jaden McDaniels and TJ Warren. Right now, I think Jaden is a great defender and low-volume efficient scorer. I don’t know if he’s capable of being more than that, or even if he’s capable, I’m not sure he’s ready to take that next step. TJ Warren averaged nearly 20 points per game just three seasons ago. Is he completely healthy and does he still have that in him? I don’t know. I’m hoping that Jaden and Slo Mo can pick up most of the rebounding slack in KAT’s absence. I just don’t see anyone right now filling the scoring void.

[FNG]

Good post, Lip. Kek has done a good job of pointing out how easy we are to score on when Naz has to play center, but it's also important to recognize how good our defense has been the past two games...especially against an offensive juggernaut like the Pacers. We are going to struggle defensively with KAT gone when Naz has to play center, but I think we can mostly weather those non-Rudy minutes because of the scoring Naz gives us. We're not going to win those minutes very often, but I think we can at least weather them. But if Rudy gets suspended for a few games (and I don't think it's unlikely...the NBA isn't going to tolerate a player accusing a ref of cheating), we are going to struggle like we did in OT last night.

I'm not quite as concerned as you are about our offense though. We are still a good 3-point shooting team with KAT out with Mike, Ant, Jaden, NAW and Naz, and last night's shooting was an aberration...come on, 1 for 19 shooting from everyone but Naz...really? KAT is difficult to replace, and I think his absence will cost us 4-5 wins the rest of the season. But I still don't see any of the teams out of the top 4 making up 5 1/2 games or more with so few to play, so we can look forward to a first round home court advantage. Let's hope KAT is back by then and we're at full strength.

[Wolvesfan21]

Good post, Lip. Kek has done a good job of pointing out how easy we are to score on when Naz has to play center, but it's also important to recognize how good our defense has been the past two games...especially against an offensive juggernaut like the Pacers. We are going to struggle defensively with KAT gone when Naz has to play center, but I think we can mostly weather those non-Rudy minutes because of the scoring Naz gives us. We're not going to win those minutes very often, but I think we can at least weather them. But if Rudy gets suspended for a few games (and I don't think it's unlikely...the NBA isn't going to tolerate a player accusing a ref of cheating), we are going to struggle like we did in OT last night.

I'm not quite as concerned as you are about our offense though. We are still a good 3-point shooting team with KAT out with Mike, Ant, Jaden, NAW and Naz, and last night's shooting was an aberration...come on, 1 for 19 shooting from everyone but Naz...really? KAT is difficult to replace, and I think his absence will cost us 4-5 wins the rest of the season. But I still don't see any of the teams out of the top 4 making up 5 1/2 games or more with so few to play, so we can look forward to a first round home court advantage. Let's hope KAT is back by then and we're at full strength.

But the refs are likely cheating, corrupt or gambling still (it's been proven they were). You cannot explain how bad the officiating has been this year unless you come to that conclusion. Every game should be analyzed by several independent officials (non NBA) and then grade each call and non call (if they are not completely already). THEN the lowest / worst ones get fired. The top ones get raises.

You need to incentivize making the right calls and good officiating. Bad / corrupt officials get terminated. Easy.

The teams are worth billions and the players make hundreds of millions. Having corrupt officiating or simply bad is a relatively super cheap fix. It's unbelievable how stupid this major sports leagues are at times. You have a product worth billions and you need to protect the quality and reputation of it.

I myself have watched less basketball because of it and I have no doubt others do as well. You can't just put a shit product out (at times) and expect people to support or watch it.

[Wolvesfan21]

The graders then also get fired if they are too far off the concensus. You can easily overtime tell who is corrupt or not.