8 Games Left In The Wilderness - Nuggets at Wolves GDT

[Lipoli390]

Nice win! You can’t put too much stock in any one game, but this game gives me hope the Wolves can turn things around yet this season with the current roster. I’m not ready to bet on it and I would still like to see us trade Randle by the Feb. 6 deadline if we can get substantial cap relief to sign Naz (maybe also NAW) and get below both the 2nd and 1st aprons. But it’s worth noting that while Randle isn’t a great fit our roster, he’s still a very good player and that’s why I wouldn’t consider giving up any draft assets to move him. We scored 133 points with Randle playing 32 minutes so maybe things can work out with Randle the rest of this season and we’ll just have to figure things out in the summer.

[Leado01]

Looked like we took Nuggets will early in the game. Jokic wasn't going to outwork Gobert and their team followed suit

[Coolbreeze44]

Very nice effort today by the boys. Fun game. I had $200 on Jaden to get at least 6 boards, glad the blowout didn't happen until late.

[Lipoli390]

The bipolar season continues!

I’m not so sure this is a reflection of our bipolar (.500 season). Something about this game was different. Some of that difference is reflected in the stats - scoring 133 points, Ant with 9 assists and not being careless with the ball, Dilly playing significant minutes a and making a positive difference, 9 guys with double digit minutes.

[Phenom]

Most complete win of the season. Dallas went on a 2nd half run that propelled them last year. Maybe this will be a springboard for the team this year.

[rapsuperstar31]

Most complete win of the season. Dallas went on a 2nd half run that propelled them last year. Maybe this will be a springboard for the team this year.

Houston did as well at the end of the season, didn't make the playoffs but spring boarded them into this season.

[FNG]

Has to be our best win of the season! Rudy set the tone early with his rebounding and deflections (4 steals), and his teammates made sure to get him involved on offense...we win again when he has 7 or more shots. Both Naz and he have greatly improved their passing, and their combined 9 assists were a pleasant surprise as the team had a spectacular 38 of them. Ant and Ju continue to make the right decisions depending on whether they're doubled or not...55 points and 16 assists!

Loved Rob's minutes too...he helped build the lead in the first half. I see he had 6 turnovers, but I think 2 or 3 of those were in garbage time. Josh's 10 minutes allowed Finchie to rest some of the starters, but unfortunately he doesn't look ready to help us.

We don't know if TC has made up his mind about moving Ju or not, but a game like this has to make him wonder about making any moves.

Now it's time to beat a struggling Hawks team missing Jalen Johnson for our 4th in a row.

[DNatagal]

Ball movement on offense to start the game was incredible. All those easy dunks and layups.

[Lipoli390]

Some individual player stats I particularly liked today:

1. Jaden’s 8 rebounds. Jaden continued to rebound the ball, making it appear that he’s finally turned the corner and become the rebounder he should be with his length and skills and the rebounder we need at his position. I also liked his overall game. What we saw from Jaden today is what I was alluding to in another post. He only took one three pointer (and made it). But he played excellent defense, rebounded the ball, got some assists and steals, and scored 13 highly efficient points on 6-8 shooting. Again, he might not be a 3-and-D guy as so many have cast him. Yet, he can still be an effective offensive player, scoring around 12-17 points per game mainly on two point shots, while rebounding and continuing to play elite defense. That’s a player who is well worth the $23 million he’s getting paid this season. If he starts to take more threes and hits them consistently that’s a bonus in my view. I want him scoring in and around the paint, rebounding, getting some assists and defending. That’s what he did today.

2. Ant’s 9 assists and 3 turnovers. Ant moved the ball today and made his teammates better. Further, he wasn’t careless with the ball. Those are two keys for Ant’s development.

3. Dilly’s 5 rebounds. This wasn’t the first time he’s rebounded well in his limited minutes and he was a good rebounding statistically in college as well. Rebounding is that one stat that some players simply have a knack for and it typically stays with them at every level from high school to college to the NBA. Dilly has that knack and although he’s a vertically challenged PG he‘ll be one of the better rebounders in the League at his position. Unfortunately, Dilly’s turnover propensity was apparent again today, but he can fix that with experience. Otherwise, he shot and passed the ball well today and worked hard defensively.

4. Rudy’s 14 rebounds. It was good to see Rudy assert himself again on the boards. He’s not the shot-blocker he once was but he needs to be a double-digit rebounder every game if this team is going to make a run this season.

[BeenLurkin]

A thought on what looked different today….a true 9 man rotation???? Is it possible that going with more rotations keeps the opponent from “solving” our starting unit and if the closing unit is that same unit and they have been “solved” then it could account for our struggles to close games?
Or was it a one off where we somehow had more hustle than the Nugz