Just Win, Baby - Cool - Spurs at Wolves GDT

[60WinTim]

Welp, that was exciting...

Can we replace Mike with DDV in the starting lineup next game?!?

[kekgeek]

Good win

[60WinTim]

Donte's home now

Yes, it's been very refreshing, and the reason we made the KAT trade (besides financial!).

[Phenom]

Donte's home now

Yes, it's been very refreshing, and the reason we made the KAT trade (besides financial!).

He's a notoriously slow starter. Time to let him cook as the kids would say.

[Q-is-here]

Donte's home now

Yes, it's been very refreshing, and the reason we made the KAT trade (besides financial!).

He's a notoriously slow starter. Time to let him cook as the kids would say.

Love it, love it, love it. This is the player we were really excited about getting in the trade. He saved our ass tonight with Ant and Julius shooting the ball terribly.

[FNG]

Great win against a Spurs team that is so much more impressive than last year. The hour delay to repair the court worked out well for us, as we were able to usher family out the door and enjoy the entire game (had to miss the Vikings game though because of the family party!). Really fun game, but not without a lot of frustration. Jim Pete might be considered repetitive in his criticism of the ball stopping, but he's right. It was nothing short of painful to watch Ant slowing the game down after 12 minutes of truly entertaining basketball courtesy of Ju and the 4 bench guys. Did Ant not learn anything watching his teammates moving the ball around and getting open shots?

And that brings me to Randle. He has the reputation of being a ball stopper, but I guess I would call him a "situational ball stopper". Put his out there with the four bench guys, and there is no ball stopping in his game at all...it's run, run, run. But pair him with Ant, and the offense becomes dysfunctional and unwatchable. I can understand the sentiment in the "roster" thread that we have to move Ju because he doesn't work with Ant. But I'm still clinging to hope that Ant can learn to play differently and run and pass like Ju+bench 4 do. Ant is our most talented player, and he should be able to adapt to a more team-oriented style of play. Imagine how much fun it would be to watch this team if our most athletic player was out there playing like the scrubs did at the beginning of the second quarter! Can our most athletic player adapt to a different style of play, or are we going to continue to make the rest of the roster adapt to Ant. I for one am tired of watching 4 guys stand around while Ant dribbles. We fans shouldn't have to celebrate when our highest-scoring player goes to the bench because we know we are going to be entertained. It's an odd situation for us fans.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's Early Morning Report after a Late Night DVR Review:

- Edwards now has 27 FTA in December (12 games).2.3 per game. He's averaging 1.7 FTA over his past 7 games.
- He shot 66 FTA in November (15 games). 4.4 per game.
- He shot 25 in the first 4 games... and averaged 6.4 in the playoffs last year.

This isn't ALL bad spacing. This is also bad basketball from Edwards right now.

- This recap should be dedicated to Donte DiVincenzo. He looks to be gaining confidence and finding his role on the team.

- The starters thing is amusing at this point. If nothing changes... the starting lineup will officially become nothing more than a token gesture. Although I think A LOT of the issue is that Edwards and Randle have been a horrible fit.

The starters shot 2 - 24 on three pointers.

- Wembanyama makes some ridiculously difficult shots. He's legit in every way. The flopping though... not a great look for the league's next annointed superstar. It's really bad and obviously a point of emphasis for him. Probably because...

- Chris Paul is playing 30+ mpg. He's a weasel. So very much a weasel and a heal. Still though, in a game where he didn't make a field goal... he was a +13 because he had 14 assists and 0 TOs and grifted his way to an early bonus for the Spurs and even got himself to the line for 6 FTA.

- Despite not playing particularly well... the Wolves just beat Dallas, Houston and SA... all potential playoff teams. Now, they get OKC on the road and Boston at home.

- The Wolves top 8 players have missed a combined 4 games. (All Mike Conley). Obviously, this is the lowest number in the league, by a lot. And, it's not sustainable.

I'll let you decide if being forced to change certain lineups eventually might actually be a good thing...

[Q-is-here]

Great win against a Spurs team that is so much more impressive than last year. The hour delay to repair the court worked out well for us, as we were able to usher family out the door and enjoy the entire game (had to miss the Vikings game though because of the family party!). Really fun game, but not without a lot of frustration. Jim Pete might be considered repetitive in his criticism of the ball stopping, but he's right. It was nothing short of painful to watch Ant slowing the game down after 12 minutes of truly entertaining basketball courtesy of Ju and the 4 bench guys. Did Ant not learn anything watching his teammates moving the ball around and getting open shots?

And that brings me to Randle. He has the reputation of being a ball stopper, but I guess I would call him a "situational ball stopper". Put his out there with the four bench guys, and there is no ball stopping in his game at all...it's run, run, run. But pair him with Ant, and the offense becomes dysfunctional and unwatchable. I can understand the sentiment in the "roster" thread that we have to move Ju because he doesn't work with Ant. But I'm still clinging to hope that Ant can learn to play differently and run and pass like Ju+bench 4 do. Ant is our most talented player, and he should be able to adapt to a more team-oriented style of play. Imagine how much fun it would be to watch this team if our most athletic player was out there playing like the scrubs did at the beginning of the second quarter! Can our most athletic player adapt to a different style of play, or are we going to continue to make the rest of the roster adapt to Ant. I for one am tired of watching 4 guys stand around while Ant dribbles. We fans shouldn't have to celebrate when our highest-scoring player goes to the bench because we know we are going to be entertained. It's an odd situation for us fans.

Ant is who he is and he's not going to become someone we hope him to be. We all love "beautiful basketball" with moving, screening, cutting, and passing without the ball hardly ever being dribbled. But that's never been Ant and never will be Ant. There is absolutely a place for a supremely talented isolation player, but they need great shooters that are perfectly comfortable positioning themselves beyond the 3-point line and being shot-ready at all times.

NAW, Reid, DDV, and Conley are all pretty comfortable spending offensive possessions spread out beyond the arc and are (mostly) capable of hitting the open 3. Randle, Rudy, and Jaden - THREE of our starters! - not so much.

[KiwiMatt]

I have to give credit to Big J.

His defense defending the opposition centers has been exceptional these last few games. He doesn’t have great length, but his strength and low body position means he’s pretty much never gets out muscled and moved. A couple of instances last night he forced Wemby to make some tough shots. Ultimately those Wemby misses played a big part in us winning the game down the stretch.

It seems like this team is starting to figure it out. I still question Randle’s fit long term, but it’s nice to see him adapt and play well. At least it bumps up his trade value.

[FNG]

Great win against a Spurs team that is so much more impressive than last year. The hour delay to repair the court worked out well for us, as we were able to usher family out the door and enjoy the entire game (had to miss the Vikings game though because of the family party!). Really fun game, but not without a lot of frustration. Jim Pete might be considered repetitive in his criticism of the ball stopping, but he's right. It was nothing short of painful to watch Ant slowing the game down after 12 minutes of truly entertaining basketball courtesy of Ju and the 4 bench guys. Did Ant not learn anything watching his teammates moving the ball around and getting open shots?

And that brings me to Randle. He has the reputation of being a ball stopper, but I guess I would call him a "situational ball stopper". Put his out there with the four bench guys, and there is no ball stopping in his game at all...it's run, run, run. But pair him with Ant, and the offense becomes dysfunctional and unwatchable. I can understand the sentiment in the "roster" thread that we have to move Ju because he doesn't work with Ant. But I'm still clinging to hope that Ant can learn to play differently and run and pass like Ju+bench 4 do. Ant is our most talented player, and he should be able to adapt to a more team-oriented style of play. Imagine how much fun it would be to watch this team if our most athletic player was out there playing like the scrubs did at the beginning of the second quarter! Can our most athletic player adapt to a different style of play, or are we going to continue to make the rest of the roster adapt to Ant. I for one am tired of watching 4 guys stand around while Ant dribbles. We fans shouldn't have to celebrate when our highest-scoring player goes to the bench because we know we are going to be entertained. It's an odd situation for us fans.

Ant is who he is and he's not going to become someone we hope him to be. We all love "beautiful basketball" with moving, screening, cutting, and passing without the ball hardly ever being dribbled. But that's never been Ant and never will be Ant. There is absolutely a place for a supremely talented isolation player, but they need great shooters that are perfectly comfortable positioning themselves beyond the 3-point line and being shot-ready at all times.

NAW, Reid, DDV, and Conley are all pretty comfortable spending offensive possessions spread out beyond the arc and are (mostly) capable of hitting the open 3. Randle, Rudy, and Jaden - THREE of our starters! - not so much.

I suspect you're right, Q, that Ant is probably not going to become someone we hope him to be. But I hope we're both wrong about that, because I think a ball stopping Ant significantly lowers the ceiling for this roster. It's more than not being enjoyable to watch...it also ripples through the rest of the roster. Antonio Daniels said it well a few days ago on NBA Radio. Everyone plays better at both ends of the court when everybody touches the ball on most possessions...when everyone is moving and cutting and passing, it carries over to the defensive side of the ball. Movement on the offensive side of the court begets movement on the defensive side. But when 4 players are mostly standing around on offense watching one guy dribble and trying to either penetrate or step back for a 3-pointer for 24 seconds, that inactivity carries over to defense too. The game changed yesterday when all the starters except Ju were benched...everyone was running and touching the ball on offense, and the activity level on defense was terrific. A case in point is Rudy. There was a stat last night that highlighted how good our record is when Rudy gets 7 or more shots, and how bad it is when he doesn't. It's not because Rudy is an offensive machine...it's because his activity level on defense is much higher when he is also involved in the offense. And an active Rudy often leads to victories.

Ant is talented, so I think he is capable of playing a different style of basketball if he wanted. But right now PPG, not passing, is his key to continuing to get as many commercials as he can. Ant needs to decide...does he want to maximize his PPG while his teammates stand idly by, or does he want to win more games. He's now in danger of falling into last place among the 9-man rotation in net rating on basketball reference...he's just one point ahead of Jaden, who is obviously not having a good season, and Divo, who was downright horrible until mid-December. Think about that...our best player and face of the franchise is that close to having the worst net rating in the rotation!

Ant has to change if we're going to challenge for a championship.