Wolves/Cavs GDT
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
Has Jarrett Allen missed one of those 8-10 foot flip shots yet!? Sick of those going in. If only Rudy had developed that shot over the years!
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Coolbreeze44
- Posts: 13192
- Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
This is a wrestling match
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
Really like the ball movement and defense of this SloMo/Naz/Conley/McLaughlin/NAW lineup.
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
C'mon, Morris hits a ridiculously well contested 3 after perfect defense throughout the possession. I hate it when that happens.
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
No hesitation on that 3 by Jaden, good to see. He HAS to take that shot when they are loading up on Ant like this.
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
Just a defensive tour de force in the 2nd half. Held them to 42 points!
Nice to see Jaden have a very good 2-way game. It seems like that unnecessary last second 3 he swished at the end of the Jazz game might be the boost of confidence he needed!
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
I haven’t been to as many games as usual this season and I’ve slacked on submitting my game reports. Tonight I had the pleasure of sitting court side near the scorers table. It’s a different game from that vantage point. And what a game it was tonight!
I’ll start with some general comments including some observations that really come into focus from a seat on the floor. I’ll begin with praise for this team’s defense and mental toughness. Referring to this Wolves team as great defensively isn’t a revelation but I think I appreciated it even more tonight as Ant and others struggled to score against a really good, relentless and physical Cleveland defense. The Wolves clearly won this game tonight with their defense. They were good defensively when Rudy was on the bench, but they were phenomenal when he was on the floor. After concluding that this team lacked toughness early in the season, I now see a Wolves team that’s mentally tough and resilient. I’m not sure i was wrong before. It may be that this team has developed toughness through the challenges and adversities of the season. In any event, I really like what I saw tonight. The officiating wasn’t terrible tonight, but it was skewed in favor of the Cavs. Ant was repeatedly mugged but couldn’t get a call. Nevertheless, this team never lost its poise or its focus. Meanwhile, Ant was clearly struggling with two fingers on his left hand taped together and suffering obvious fatigue. Yet Ant and the team soldiered on through adversity throughout the game with Ant grabbing 13 rebounds and contributing significantly to a great team defensive effort. I couldn’t be more proud of this team, which almost beat the Nuggets a couple days ago without KAT, Rudy or Naz.
JMac was terrific tonight. The offense always flows better when he’s on the court. And when he’s hitting his threes as he was tonight, he’s tremendous. I’d give him the game ball if it weren’t for Conley’s stellar play tonight. Naz was also terrific. It was a team effort and the only two players who didn’t play well for the Wolves tonight were Morris and NAW, although NAW was still a positive force defensively.. A great team win.
Now some interesting court side perspectives.
First, as I alluded to earlier, Ant looked worn down. But I’ll quickly add that he doesn’t look out of shape. His muscle tone up close suggests a single-digit body fat percentage. He’s cut and looks good. He’s just played so many minutes and carried such a high burden over this long, highly competitive season that his legs appear to be a bit heavy by Ant standards. However, you don’t get 13 rebounds and play the terrific defense he displayed tonight if you’re truly out of shape or lacking in toughness or competitiveness. There’s absolutely nothing fundamentally wrong with Ant. He needs to improve his handle a bit and make better use of his teammates as teams routinely target him defensively. He’s the real deal, but the burden on him is even greater without KAT there to share the offensive load as Ant continues to get swarmed defensively and knocked around without getting calls that every other star in the League gets routinely. He looks like he could use a week off, but that’s not in the cards.
Second, the courtside perspective provides great insight into what makes McDaniels such an elite defender. It’s hard to explain but there was one play right in front of us in particular that illustrated his defensive greatness. Garland, one of the League’s quickest PGs, seemed to get by Jaden with a great cross over and looked like he was headed into the lane for an easy layup. But in the blink of an eye, Jaden was suddenly in front of Garland again as Garland backed up with the ball. It was as if Jaden dematerialized for a fraction of a second only to re-materialize in front of Garland. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defender quite like Jaden. It’s related to his combination of quick feet and superb length, but it’s also a function of his instincts and competitiveness. It’s a fairly unique package of talents and attributes that make him special on the defensive end. I’ll add that his corner three is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, his underwhelming ball handling is painfully apparent up close. It’s not a bad handle, but it’s not a particularly good one either. And his passing skills aren’t very impressive. But his defense, competitiveness and shooting ability combine to justify his contract in my view.
Third, I think the thing that impressed me the most up close, in addition to the length of the players and speed of the game, was the tremendous hands these players have. I have a better appreciation now for Rudy’s “bad” hands. Yes, they’re pretty bad by NBA standards, but those standards are really, really high. Passes travel at speeds nearly too fast for my old eyes to follow and they come at challenging angles and from places on the court that prevent the intended recipient from seeing the ball until the last second.
Finally, I can’t fully convey in words the joy of watching Mike Conley up close. He has a look on his face of pure joy and serenity - exuding a sense that he’s in complete control and you don’t need to worry, he’s got it covered. You can see the guy is mentally one or two steps ahead of most others on the court. You can also see that he absolutely loves to play the game. If you ever have the chance to sit courtside at a Wolves game while Conley is playing for this team, you should take time to just watch him - with and without the ball. He’s such a credit to the game and no doubt the best trade acquisition in the history of this franchise.
I don’t know if this team will finish 1st or 4th in the Conference. But I’m confident this team will defend and compete until the last second of the last game. Win or lose, this is a special team with players you can’t help but like and root for. I’ll be at the last game of the season on April 14 and expect to be at all the Wolves home playoff games. I hope there are a lot of them.
Good night.
I’ll start with some general comments including some observations that really come into focus from a seat on the floor. I’ll begin with praise for this team’s defense and mental toughness. Referring to this Wolves team as great defensively isn’t a revelation but I think I appreciated it even more tonight as Ant and others struggled to score against a really good, relentless and physical Cleveland defense. The Wolves clearly won this game tonight with their defense. They were good defensively when Rudy was on the bench, but they were phenomenal when he was on the floor. After concluding that this team lacked toughness early in the season, I now see a Wolves team that’s mentally tough and resilient. I’m not sure i was wrong before. It may be that this team has developed toughness through the challenges and adversities of the season. In any event, I really like what I saw tonight. The officiating wasn’t terrible tonight, but it was skewed in favor of the Cavs. Ant was repeatedly mugged but couldn’t get a call. Nevertheless, this team never lost its poise or its focus. Meanwhile, Ant was clearly struggling with two fingers on his left hand taped together and suffering obvious fatigue. Yet Ant and the team soldiered on through adversity throughout the game with Ant grabbing 13 rebounds and contributing significantly to a great team defensive effort. I couldn’t be more proud of this team, which almost beat the Nuggets a couple days ago without KAT, Rudy or Naz.
JMac was terrific tonight. The offense always flows better when he’s on the court. And when he’s hitting his threes as he was tonight, he’s tremendous. I’d give him the game ball if it weren’t for Conley’s stellar play tonight. Naz was also terrific. It was a team effort and the only two players who didn’t play well for the Wolves tonight were Morris and NAW, although NAW was still a positive force defensively.. A great team win.
Now some interesting court side perspectives.
First, as I alluded to earlier, Ant looked worn down. But I’ll quickly add that he doesn’t look out of shape. His muscle tone up close suggests a single-digit body fat percentage. He’s cut and looks good. He’s just played so many minutes and carried such a high burden over this long, highly competitive season that his legs appear to be a bit heavy by Ant standards. However, you don’t get 13 rebounds and play the terrific defense he displayed tonight if you’re truly out of shape or lacking in toughness or competitiveness. There’s absolutely nothing fundamentally wrong with Ant. He needs to improve his handle a bit and make better use of his teammates as teams routinely target him defensively. He’s the real deal, but the burden on him is even greater without KAT there to share the offensive load as Ant continues to get swarmed defensively and knocked around without getting calls that every other star in the League gets routinely. He looks like he could use a week off, but that’s not in the cards.
Second, the courtside perspective provides great insight into what makes McDaniels such an elite defender. It’s hard to explain but there was one play right in front of us in particular that illustrated his defensive greatness. Garland, one of the League’s quickest PGs, seemed to get by Jaden with a great cross over and looked like he was headed into the lane for an easy layup. But in the blink of an eye, Jaden was suddenly in front of Garland again as Garland backed up with the ball. It was as if Jaden dematerialized for a fraction of a second only to re-materialize in front of Garland. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defender quite like Jaden. It’s related to his combination of quick feet and superb length, but it’s also a function of his instincts and competitiveness. It’s a fairly unique package of talents and attributes that make him special on the defensive end. I’ll add that his corner three is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, his underwhelming ball handling is painfully apparent up close. It’s not a bad handle, but it’s not a particularly good one either. And his passing skills aren’t very impressive. But his defense, competitiveness and shooting ability combine to justify his contract in my view.
Third, I think the thing that impressed me the most up close, in addition to the length of the players and speed of the game, was the tremendous hands these players have. I have a better appreciation now for Rudy’s “bad” hands. Yes, they’re pretty bad by NBA standards, but those standards are really, really high. Passes travel at speeds nearly too fast for my old eyes to follow and they come at challenging angles and from places on the court that prevent the intended recipient from seeing the ball until the last second.
Finally, I can’t fully convey in words the joy of watching Mike Conley up close. He has a look on his face of pure joy and serenity - exuding a sense that he’s in complete control and you don’t need to worry, he’s got it covered. You can see the guy is mentally one or two steps ahead of most others on the court. You can also see that he absolutely loves to play the game. If you ever have the chance to sit courtside at a Wolves game while Conley is playing for this team, you should take time to just watch him - with and without the ball. He’s such a credit to the game and no doubt the best trade acquisition in the history of this franchise.
I don’t know if this team will finish 1st or 4th in the Conference. But I’m confident this team will defend and compete until the last second of the last game. Win or lose, this is a special team with players you can’t help but like and root for. I’ll be at the last game of the season on April 14 and expect to be at all the Wolves home playoff games. I hope there are a lot of them.
Good night.-
Carlos Danger
- Posts: 2402
- Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Wolves/Cavs GDT
1-0 for me when starting game threads. You are welcome!
