9 Games in the Wilderness - Wolves at Mavs GDT

[Q-is-here]

We just need to tread water during this 9-game venture into the Wilderness. Who cares how the wins come, as long as we get some. Starting off with a win is great. On to the next.

I don't know Tim. This season reminds me so much of two seasons ago when you could just never count on the easy win.

Dallas was missing so many damn good players and it was a struggle session all game for us. For whatever reason this group just doesn't gel and the whole continues to be less than the sum of the parts. If we were corporate raiders that took control of the team, we'd want to break it up and start selling assets.

[Lipoli390]

We just need to tread water during this 9-game venture into the Wilderness. Who cares how the wins come, as long as we get some. Starting off with a win is great. On to the next.

I don't know Tim. This season reminds me so much of two seasons ago when you could just never count on the easy win.

Dallas was missing so many damn good players and it was a struggle session all game for us. For whatever reason this group just doesn't gel and the whole continues to be less than the sum of the parts. If we were corporate raiders that took control of the team, we'd want to break it up and start selling assets.

I agree, Q. Another layer I’ll add is that only 7 Wolves players had double-digit minutes tonight, which is pretty typical of the team this season. That’s simply not sustainable. We’re essentially a .500 team more than halfway through the season. We lose or, like tonight, barely win games we should win fairly easily if we aspire to be anything more than a one-and-out playoff team at best. And all of that is with a tight 7 to 8 player rotation that isn’t sustainable.

In contrast, OKC had 9 players with double digit minutes and a 10th player with 9 minutes tonight. The Grizzlies had 10 players with double digit minutes and an 11th player with 8 minutes.

So I don’t see anything in tonight’s game or any of our recent wins to suggest that we’ve turned any sort of corner. I think we’ll make the play-in tournament and might even end up in the playoffs with a 7th or 8th seed. But that’s likely the end of the road for the Wolves this season. I don’t think this team has championship talent and as you noted the mix of talent we have is less than the sum of its parts. We have a nice collection of core young talent. It’s time to start building an eventual championship contender around that core.

More important than our 1-point win tonight was the performance of Jaden McDaniels. His three-point shot wasn’t falling but he scored 27 points with efficient two-point buckets. He added 8 rebounds and combined 5 blocks/steals.

[Q-is-here]

I know we didn't get the patented Kek grades tonight, but I will hand out an F to Dillingham. He was a massive liability defensively and was a zero offensively.

I like the kid, just being real. Finch was right to really limit his 2nd half minutes.

[Lipoli390]

I know we didn't get the patented Kek grades tonight, but I will hand out an F to Dillingham. He was a massive liability defensively and was a zero offensively.

I like the kid, just being real. Finch was right to really limit his 2nd half minutes.

Thanks for the insight. We’re out of town so I was limited to watching the game cast on ESPN.com. But your description of Dilly’s play certainly aligns with his stats and I’m sure you’re right that Finch was right to limit his minutes. Meanwhile, it looks like Conley drank from the fountain of youth before tonight’s game. Interesting that we tend to win when he plays well and lose when he doesn’t. Mike’s decline is a fairly close second to losing KAT for why the Wolves have declined from 56 wins to what will likely be no more than 45.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's "Am I Watching the Least Clutch Team in the NBA" DVR Review:

- We're 40 seconds in... and Rudy Gobert has his defender pinned AT the rim. No pass from Randle.

- Edwards has an open look, passes it up. A minute later, Reid passes up one. And a couple minutes later... Reid passes up another one. Meanwhile Randle forcefed Gobert and turned it over possibly to make up for the earlier miss.

- Julius Randle hits Anthony Edwards in the face. I'm thinking... the Wolves have no reason to lose to this Mavs team without 7 rotation players... wouldn't it make a great ironic meme?

- Randle kits Klieber in the face. Randle hits his arm. McDaniels gets the steal and fouled at the rim. Then, he gets upset. Lol.

- Conley's defense (and offense) have been great in this game. That steal and assist to Randle to put them up 8 was wonderful. Good to have these good memories of Conley after a rough season.

- And yet Conley isn't the best Timberwolves player. McDaniels has energy and is playing well.

- Wolves up 82 - 76. Irving had just made a nice, fairly normal looking short runner. The local broadcast goes to a commercial break after showing a highlight of Irving in slow motion on that short runner. WOW! I'm not an Irving fan, but that was poetry. THAT is why I love basketball (other than the passing). And the most amazing part was how normal he had made it look. I'm late to some things in the NBA... and I don't know if I've given Irving enough credit for his skill. I found it cliche when everyone else talked about it constantly. They were right.

- Reid and Randle both complain about calls... even though they were the correct calls. The composure is less than good right now.

- 4:30... A couple of threes that miss for Edwards, but the Wolves are hustling and he ends possession with a layup. that's the type of hustle that wins games.

- Dallas gets second chance points on each of its last 3 possessions to make this game closer than it should have been. But this is your 2025 Minnesota TImberwolves! This is exactly who they are.

[Leado01]

I didn't feel as much "gloom" in the victory as some others did.

This game isn't close if we don't go to Ant as the primary ball handler on most possessions down the stretch. When teams really load up on him he's still making too many mistakes and needs to deliver the pass before the third player comes.

Our catch and 3 shooters weren't blazing last night BUT they were damn good when they had a few seconds to shoot. Randle is better at delivering the drive and kick if that's what we're going to do to close games....or better yet...just run the damn offense through Connelly or even Dilly

[thedoper]

How much has Gobert’s play dipped this year? Are teams scouting to crash the boards on him? The last few games have been brutal.

[AbeVigodaLive]

How much has Gobert’s play dipped this year? Are teams scouting to crash the boards on him? The last few games have been brutal.

I don't know.

But we keep hearing how Gobert is "more active" when he gets touches. That isn't some random thing Grady or Jim Pete or whomever is making up on the fly.

They've heard that from others... with the team. Maybe Gobert himself. I pointed out how Gobert was ignored 40 seconds into the game. Is he just pouting his way through the season?

[FNG]

We beat the Dallas G League team (plus Irving) by one point...we're clearly back, baby!

Tough to feel joyous about this one, but at least it wasn't a loss. I think we win this one handily if our two high scorers have a normal shooting night (they were a combined 10 for 32), but I continue to appreciate the way both of them have been moving the ball...10 assists for them, 7 by Ant. Jaden and Mike were terrific. We've been asking Jaden to rebound better and he's beginning to deliver...6.4 per game in his past 10 games. Also loved the 4 steals and drives to the basket. And Mike played almost a perfect game...18-8-5 with no turnovers.

Rob seems to be alternating good games and bad games, and Finchie is managing him well. Let's hope he comes back with a good one in our next game against Denver. We're clearly not a championship team this season, but if we have any hopes of having any playoff success, tonight was a great example of why we can't move Mike at the deadline. Rob will be our starting PG soon, but you can't expect to be competitive with a skinny 19 year old as your only PG.

Next we get a very hot Denver team, and to make it worse, it's an afternoon game...it seems to me that Ant isn't always at his best in afternoon games. We're going to need a better shooting game from him and Ju to beat the Nuggets, and also a bounce back game from Rob. I don't know...just have a feeling Ant might have one of those red-hot shooting games. Let's hope...

[DNatagal]

This is the McDaniels the Wolves need going forward. An athletic defender that can be efficient scoring from around the court. When he gets aggressive and dunks on people he is a different player. The rebounding is huge. I still want to see the the swarm lineup. Naz, Jaden, Ant, DDV, NAW on the court at some point when DDV is back. Let them loose on the other team for 4 minutes each half to get some energy out there. Hell, I would take Minott in there with that lineup while DDV is out.