Mavs at Wolves R3G2

[Jester1534]

Push out rule changed because of the Vikings losing on a last second pass to Arizona where David Boston clearly wouldn’t have got his feet in.

Overtime rules changed because 09 Vikings didn’t get a final possession.

Guarantee next year the out of bounds review changes because of the wolves game.

Just add it to the list of ways Minnesota teams get screwed the it gets changed the next year.

[Lipoli390]

Lip, I enjoy your bird's eye view of what is happening on the bench. Moore Jr. also pisses me off, and I'm not surprised that an intense competitor like SloMo got in his face last night. I also want him gone next year, but it's too early to make a similar decision about Clark.

Jokic may be the best basketball player in the world, so Denver had the best player in the semifinals. But we overcame that and beat the champs. But now we have to overcome a team that has the two best players, and that's a very difficult thing to overcome-especially with our "best" players not giving us anything near their best performance. We can still win this, but it's going to be tough.

Dallas's centers making 14 out of 16 shots (all dunks maybe?) killed us tonight. Dallas has two players with an extraordinary ability to make the right pass at the right time. How many of their combined 19 assists resulted in dunks? Certainly most of them.

I've often said that great defense will prevail in the playoffs, but in this series we have the two best defenses in the Association- and since the mid-season moves, the Mavericks have been the best defensive team. And it shows with what they are doing to us. Ant is going to struggle all series with Jones Jr. hounding him, and the 2-headed monster inside is frustrating us also. Conversely, our elite defense hasn't figured out how to stop the Mav's incredible ability to create easy dunks. We actually got worse in defending the rim in Game 2 despite our coaching staff's demonstrated ability to make the kind of adjustments needed to stop the other team. I'm not giving up yet (although I'm getting closer), and I am confident (hopeful?) we will see some moves to counter the dunking machine.

FNG - I should add that Nix is also part of the “I don’t give a shit” posse. I’m not dead set on moving Clark or Miller. Moore is clearly the cancer and I don’t see him having the potential of the other two. However, it is so hard to be successful at the NBA level no matter how talented you are. One thing that’s absolutely critical to a player’s ability to have any success in the NBA is his inner resolve, discipline, and competitive drive. Call it character. Moore clearly lacks any of that as the obvious leader of the “I don’t give a shit” pack on the bench. But the fact that Clark and Miller so willingly play along with Moore’s antics, lacking any resolve to resist, is telling and strongly suggests they also lack the foundational character attributes for success. Miller has already validated my assessment with his unacceptable indifference to defense in the G-League. Maybe Clark will be different as he had a reputation as a tenacious defender in college, but it’s troubling that he can’t emulate the other young players like Garza, JMac and Minott who are clearly into the game - involved both mentally and emotionally with their teammates in the game. It’s not that hard.

I’m reminded of the time I took a client’s VP from another State to a Wolves game during the Wes Johnson/Derrick Williams game. Unbeknownst to me, she had been watching the Wolves bench. At some point she turned to me and, pointing to the Wolves bench as Wes and his posse at the time were laughing and carrying on, said, “Wow, you care more about the game than they do!” Sadly, Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams, the two main members of the “I don’t give a shit” team at the time, were core members of the roster. Thankfully, Moore, Miller and Clark are tangential to the Wolves right now. Unfortunately, with so little draft capital because of the Rudy trade, it’s very troubling to see three of the five young players on our roster picking up with Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams left off. I wish Minott had Miller’s God given talent. But at least he has the foundational character attributes - mental discipline, competitive drive - to success. At least he, along with Luka Garza, gives a shit. I have no patience for those who don’t and neither should the Wolves organization if they’re serious about building a winning culture.

[FNG]

That's one of those reviews where the call was correct, but they missed a foul call so they shoulda just let us keep possession


So far we can't buy a review call.

The NBA has to be run by the biggest idiots to ever be alive. To review a call but NOT be able to get it correct? You can't make it up.

But isn't it exactly the same in the NFL? If a team challenges a ruling- say the spot of the ball- and the refs see an obvious missed holding call, they can't call the hold. I think I agree with Van Gundy that reviews should encompass everything that happened on the play, but let's acknowledge it happens in football too. Also, while you can challenge a foul call, you can't challenge a "non call". So the refs hands were tied in this instance for two reasons. Was it the right call? Nope, and I'm fairly certain we will see it as a missed call on the 2-minute report later today. Review rules in all sports are a controversial topic, and we'll probably see some changes in the future.

I guess we don't even have to wait for the 2-minute report. The ref crew chief responded to a Chris Hine postgame question but agreeing that Jaden was clearly fouled. Such a critical moment of the game- 2 free throws by Jaden there could have iced this game.

[Wolvesfan21]

That's one of those reviews where the call was correct, but they missed a foul call so they shoulda just let us keep possession


So far we can't buy a review call.

The NBA has to be run by the biggest idiots to ever be alive. To review a call but NOT be able to get it correct? You can't make it up.

But isn't it exactly the same in the NFL? If a team challenges a ruling- say the spot of the ball- and the refs see an obvious missed holding call, they can't call the hold. I think I agree with Van Gundy that reviews should encompass everything that happened on the play, but let's acknowledge it happens in football too. Also, while you can challenge a foul call, you can't challenge a "non call". So the refs hands were tied in this instance for two reasons. Was it the right call? Nope, and I'm fairly certain we will see it as a missed call on the 2-minute report later today. Review rules in all sports are a controversial topic, and we'll probably see some changes in the future.

Both sports to be fair are really impossible to get correct at a really high percentage. Officiating will cause teams to win or lose and we probably lost because of them. You hope the big calls go your way or the non calls like this one. They took a long time probably deciding if they should do the right thing or the right call. They did the right call and the wrong thing.

[Wolvesfan21]

Push out rule changed because of the Vikings losing on a last second pass to Arizona where David Boston clearly wouldn’t have got his feet in.

Overtime rules changed because 09 Vikings didn’t get a final possession.

Guarantee next year the out of bounds review changes because of the wolves game.

Just add it to the list of ways Minnesota teams get screwed the it gets changed the next year.

I was thinking the same. We get fucked so the next fans don't. Classic.

[FNG]

The NBA has to be run by the biggest idiots to ever be alive. To review a call but NOT be able to get it correct? You can't make it up.

But isn't it exactly the same in the NFL? If a team challenges a ruling- say the spot of the ball- and the refs see an obvious missed holding call, they can't call the hold. I think I agree with Van Gundy that reviews should encompass everything that happened on the play, but let's acknowledge it happens in football too. Also, while you can challenge a foul call, you can't challenge a "non call". So the refs hands were tied in this instance for two reasons. Was it the right call? Nope, and I'm fairly certain we will see it as a missed call on the 2-minute report later today. Review rules in all sports are a controversial topic, and we'll probably see some changes in the future.

Both sports to be fair are really impossible to get correct at a really high percentage. Officiating will cause teams to win or lose and we probably lost because of them. You hope the big calls go your way or the non calls like this one. They took a long time probably deciding if they should do the right thing or the right call. They did the right call and the wrong thing.

So true, WF. The review shouldn't have taken any time at all, because it was clear the ball went off Jaden. But Van Gundy nailed it...when the referees saw the obvious foul by Kyrie, they were looking for any possible option to find a way within the rules to give the free throws or at least the ball to the Wolves. But there was no way.

I play another sport where "fair outcome of the play" determines how the referee finally rules. That means he takes in all the information provided him, and makes his ruling based on that. Much more flexible than the current football and basketball rules. I think giving the referees more latitude would be beneficial to both football and basketball.

[FNG]

It's difficult to feel positive after going down 2-0 at home, but let's keep this in mind: we're 5-1 on the road this postseason, but have a losing record at home. And we lost the first two at home against Denver much worse than the close losses to Dallas, and still won the series. I'm still subscribing to the "annoying crying babies" theory...our guys look gassed in the second half of home games because they haven't gotten any sleep. But we now have a solid Visiting Court Advantage, and we need to take advantage of it. I'm convinced we are going to see a totally different Wolves team Sunday after a good night's sleep in a Dallas hotel.

My biggest concern: even if we sweep Dallas on the road in Games 3, 4 and 6, can we win even one home game? We pulled one out against Denver in a Game 6 where the Nuggets didn't seem to care. We're not going to be so lucky against Dallas, so we're going to have to find another way to win a home game.

[rapsuperstar31]

It's difficult to feel positive after going down 2-0 at home, but let's keep this in mind: we're 5-1 on the road this postseason, but have a losing record at home. And we lost the first two at home against Denver much worse than the close losses to Dallas, and still won the series. I'm still subscribing to the "annoying crying babies" theory...our guys look gassed in the second half of home games because they haven't gotten any sleep. But we now have a solid Visiting Court Advantage, and we need to take advantage of it. I'm convinced we are going to see a totally different Wolves team Sunday after a good night's sleep in a Dallas hotel.

My biggest concern: even if we sweep Dallas on the road in Games 3, 4 and 6, can we win even one home game? We pulled one out against Denver in a Game 6 where the Nuggets didn't seem to care. We're not going to be so lucky against Dallas, so we're going to have to find another way to win a home game.

If the Wolves win games 3,4,6 and lose game 5 at home, we'll have to start a gofundme to rent a few vrbo homes for the team to isolate and stay in for their time in Minnesota before the game.

[Coolbreeze44]

After having some time to digest what happened last night, I have one overriding thought. That is, we are a better team than Dallas and have been all year, when are we going to start acting like it? Go out and take care of business tomorrow night and turn this thing around. We can beat this team 4 out of 5 times, just start executing.

[TheGrey08]

After having some time to digest what happened last night, I have one overriding thought. That is, we are a better team than Dallas and have been all year, when are we going to start acting like it? Go out and take care of business tomorrow night and turn this thing around. We can beat this team 4 out of 5 times, just start executing.

That crossed my mind as well. I know the Mavs haven't played a complete great game, but the Wolves have played worse. The Wolves are the more talented and skilled team overall. They need to get back to their game and take care of business.