The Gauntlet: Biker Gang - Thunder at Wolves GDT

[TheGrey08]

One of the most fun games I've seen in a while. Between the young guys and the amount of attacking and speed they're throwing at defenses. Need more of that. It'll be interesting to see how Randle is when he gets back. Does he try to fit into the flow more or keep falling into sticky iso ball.

[Q-is-here]

One of the most fun games I've seen in a while. Between the young guys and the amount of attacking and speed they're throwing at defenses. Need more of that. It'll be interesting to see how Randle is when he gets back. Does he try to fit into the flow more or keep falling into sticky iso ball.

Randle was actually doing a pretty good job fitting into the flow in the weeks leading up to his injury.

Dillingham and Shannon really insert an element of pace into the game. Fun to watch. And I thought this was one of Dillingham's best games in terms of being a real point guard. 5 assists and 0 turnovers.

[TheGrey08]

Clearly we can trade Randle and Gobert this offseason. Try to swap them out for Durant and a quality pg and we are championship bound.

What's up Sauce. That's probably the only way I would want KD, except getting a solid defensive big in return to fill Rudy's spot. I also really like seeing Naz at the 4 a bit. If it takes from the young core, it's not worth it.

[TheGrey08]

Randle was actually doing a pretty good job fitting into the flow in the weeks leading up to his injury.

Dillingham and Shannon really insert an element of pace into the game. Fun to watch. And I thought this was one of Dillingham's best games in terms of being a real point guard. 5 assists and 0 turnovers.

Hopefully Randle continues that. The pace and ball movement has been quite fun to watch. Dilly being a playmaker, Clark/Shannon bringing a physical presence on both ends and Jaden/Naz going into attack mode. If Jaden keeps growing in that area it'll be massive and Naz is just such a damn good player. Dude is smooth.

One of the better wins of the season for sure. The way Ant interacts with all of these guys is also great to see. Dude loves seeing guys around him making plays. The future is bright.

[Lipoli390]

One of the most fun games I've seen in a while. Between the young guys and the amount of attacking and speed they're throwing at defenses. Need more of that. It'll be interesting to see how Randle is when he gets back. Does he try to fit into the flow more or keep falling into sticky iso ball.

Randle is 30 years old and has been in the League a long time. He is who his is and isn’t going to change. I never thought he’d fit well and he becomes an even poorer fit with this next iteration of the team that includes Shannon, Dilly and Clark along with Ant, Jaden and Naz. The more this team plays without Randle and settles into a style of play that suits them, the less Randle will fit. He won’t be able to effectively or consistently adapt his game.

[TheGrey08]

Randle is 30 years old and has been in the League a long time. He is who his is and isn’t going to change. I never thought he’d fit well and he becomes an even poorer fit with this next iteration of the team that includes Shannon, Dilly and Clark along with Ant, Jaden and Naz. The more this team plays without Randle and settles into a style of play that suits them, the less Randle will fit. He won’t be able to effectively or consistently adapt his game.

Yeah, at this point I'm just hoping he will stay in the flow most of the time.

[Lipoli390]

Another win against a West team above the Wolves in the standings.

When it's all counted up after the season, the Wolves will have no one to blame but themselves if they don't finish in the top 4. Way too many missed opportunities. Especially when you see what they are capable of.

I agree, Cool. But until Randle went down this team was a square peg in a round hole. Now, without Randle, we’re seeing this team grow into a winning style of play that suits them. They’ll have some stinkers like last night when no one was hitting their shots. And yet I still maintain we would have won last night if Shannon had been in the game the last 5 minutes.

[KiwiMatt]

Kiwi’s thoughts:

* Its felt like there’s been a lid on the bucket these last few games. The amount of shots that rattled out tonight was uncanny. But we still won. Those shots will start to fall again soon.

* We shot a measly 26% from deep tonight. OKC shot a measlier 24%. I would love to see this team acquire a deadly corner 3pt shooter I.e Cam Johnson or ‘ahem’ Kevin Durant.

* SGA gets the most favourable whistle in the game, but it was nice to see the officials not reward him for all the baiting tonight.

* Only 8 turnovers! And 28 assists! That’s more like it.

* Maybe, just maybe this is the blueprint for this teams style going forward. Small, spacing and speed.

* Jaden McDaniels has evolved. Rebounding, passing, scoring. Even his handles look vastly improved. He certainly didn’t look out of place playing power forward. Abeit against a smaller OKC team outside of Chet and Isiah.

[Lipoli390]

Kiwi’s thoughts:

* Its felt like there’s been a lid on the bucket these last few games. The amount of shots that rattled out tonight was uncanny. But we still won. Those shots will start to fall again soon.

* We shot a measly 26% from deep tonight. OKC shot a measlier 24%. I would love to see this team acquire a deadly corner 3pt shooter I.e Cam Johnson or ‘ahem’ Kevin Durant.

* SGA gets the most favourable whistle in the game, but it was nice to see the officials not reward him for all the baiting tonight.

* Only 8 turnovers! And 28 assists! That’s more like it.

* Maybe, just maybe this is the blueprint for this teams style going forward. Small, spacing and speed.

* Jaden McDaniels has evolved. Rebounding, passing, scoring. Even his handles look vastly improved. He certainly didn’t look out of place playing power forward. Abeit against a smaller OKC team outside of Chet and Isiah.

Thanks for pointing out that 8 turnover stat. That’s a big deal since turnovers have been probably the biggest single factor in the Wolves mediocrity this season. It’s interesting that turnovers tend to result from over-dribbling, bogging things down and indecisiveness. Turnovers also happen when passes bound off Rudy’s hands. . Not having Randle on the floor eliminates his all too frequent turnovers and speeds the game up, which reduces turnovers by others. Note we didn’t have Rudy on the floor tonight, which helps keep the turnover total down.

But for what it’s worth, I’m pleased with Rudy this season. He has his limitations, but he gives it everything he has when he’s on the court, playing tremendous defense and pulling down rebounds. And his 20 points last night gave us a chance.

[60WinTim]

Not to rain on everyone's parade, but the Thunder were missing Cason Wallace, who usually gives us fits. And they don't usually miss so many 3s, especially in the 4th quarter where they grew stone cold.

But dang! We'll take the win AND enjoy it! .500 ball half way through the Gauntlet. .500 ball in the next 4 games would clearly be a win.