In Transition - Wolves at Suns GDT

[Crazysauce]

I still can't believe the refs didn't call that foul on ants alley oops that Beal pushed him. Like seriously what the hell are they watching? It couldn't have been any more blatant.. just awful officiating

[60WinTim]

This went under the radar, but those were Jesse Edwards first 2 minutes in the NBA! His stat sheet has 0s across the board...

[kekgeek]

This went under the radar, but those were Jesse Edwards first 2 minutes in the NBA! His stat sheet has 0s across the board...

The bench was so upset with miller when he didn’t pass it to Jesse on the fast break

[60WinTim]

And one other note: I’m sure glad the Wolves showed FNG a great time!!!

[KiwiMatt]

I still can't believe the refs didn't call that foul on ants alley oops that Beal pushed him. Like seriously what the hell are they watching? It couldn't have been any more blatant.. just awful officiating

And they wonder why Ant blows up at them all the time. They should be protecting the players from injury and unexplainable missed calls like that are a really bad look for the NBA. Thank god for the challenge, but the fact it came to that is a disgrace.

I swear the calibre of officiating is at an all time low.

[Q-is-here]

I still can't believe the refs didn't call that foul on ants alley oops that Beal pushed him. Like seriously what the hell are they watching? It couldn't have been any more blatant.. just awful officiating

There should be disciplinary action taken against the refs. I can understand if one ref missed it because they were blocked off from the play or whatever. But all three!? That is just totally inexcusable. Doesn't matter that it was rectified via replay. That shouldn't have been necessary.

[FNG]

And one other note: I’m sure glad the Wolves showed FNG a great time!!!

Wow, did they ever! We had terrific seats, but I suspect you guys probably saw the game better than we did. But it's fun to be up close, hear the trash talking, and realize just how big and fast these guys are!

Obviously Ant and Donte were brilliant, but even the guys who weren't successful on offense (Mike, Naz, NAW and Jaden) were moving the ball and locked in on defense...we played well. Ju came back seamlessly and while he only had 3 assists, it was fun to watch him directing the offense at times...moving guys around to get them in the right positions to create space and always making the right pass. We missed him.

But let's not lose sight of the fact that, despite having Durant and Booker, the suns are not a good team right now. I think starting Bol and Richards is a huge mistake. Neither one is a scorer, and it allowed our defense to really focus on the Suns stars. They also looked a lot slower than us when we had the ball, and we were able to create a lot of open looks moving without the ball and swinging the ball around. I'll take 28 assists and 8 TOS any night.

Some here might be disappointed that Rob didn't see the court until the end and TJ and Clark were also limited, but we needed to win this game, and frankly we just didn't look as crisp when they were out there. Their minutes might be even more limited when Rudy comes back.

And speaking of Rudy, we won today without him, but we will definitely need him when we face a team that relies less on jump shooting like the Suns. It has been good to see him on the bench while he has been hurt, and there is nobody on the bench more involved in what's going on other than Ingles. A couple times he jumped up and yelled at Ant to get back on defense, and Ant did. Hopefully he'll be back soon.

One final comment: always fun to watch the Wolves shooting pre-game and at halftime. I'm not on the Minott bandwagon and neither is Finchie, but man can he shoot...must have hit 80% of his 3-pointers. But there are three guys who just don't look comfortable with their shots and don't make them nearly enough...Rob, TJ and Clark. TJ's form is quite odd to me, and Rob lunges forward when he releases the ball. Hopefully our coaching staff can coach them up, because they both have potential.

[60WinTim]

Thanks for the insights, FNG. I am glad it is was well worth the drive you took to take in the game!

This gets mentioned here and there, but we know rookies generally do not contribute to winning in their first year. And we have THREE rookies that have shown legit signs of being future rotational players. It is super encouraging for ANT 2.0 that those rookies get this season under their belts and then have an offseason to work on their games.

Another interesting observation: Finch really only played an 8-man rotation. While Shannon and Clark were technically #8 and #9, it seemed Clark only saw the floor in place of Shannon after Shannon could not get a layup to fall. So I look at it as the combination of Shannon/Clark being our #8 player.

And when Rudy gets back, they will likely be out of the regular rotation again. At this point, I don't have a problem with that. They've shown they can be relied upon if needed. But our rotational guys are so deserving of minutes that an 8-man rotation makes the most sense. Especially when winning is so important right now, and an 8-man rotation is what we'll see come playoff time, too.

[Q-is-here]

Thanks for the insights, FNG. I am glad it is was well worth the drive you took to take in the game!

This gets mentioned here and there, but we know rookies generally do not contribute to winning in their first year. And we have THREE rookies that have shown legit signs of being future rotational players. It is super encouraging for ANT 2.0 that those rookies get this season under their belts and then have an offseason to work on their games.

Another interesting observation: Finch really only played an 8-man rotation. While Shannon and Clark were technically #8 and #9, it seemed Clark only saw the floor in place of Shannon after Shannon could not get a layup to fall. So I look at it as the combination of Shannon/Clark being our #8 player.

And when Rudy gets back, they will likely be out of the regular rotation again. At this point, I don't have a problem with that. They've shown they can be relied upon if needed. But our rotational guys are so deserving of minutes that an 8-man rotation makes the most sense. Especially when winning is so important right now, and an 8-man rotation is what we'll see come playoff time, too.

Yes, thank you to FNG for the game report.

On Clark and Shannon, the reason Finch should keep them in the rotation is less about them providing some huge boost to our effectiveness while on the floor (although I thought Clark was instrumental in our defensive turnaround starting in the 2nd quarter), but because our top 8 need fresh legs to close games. I think these guys can be trusted to execute the game plan and mostly play within themselves, especially Clark.

As for the rookie thing...I think that applies mostly to younger rookies like Dillingham. Not so sure our expectations should be that low for guys like Shannon and Clark. Both are older rookies that were NBA-ready physically.

[60WinTim]

Thanks for the insights, FNG. I am glad it is was well worth the drive you took to take in the game!

This gets mentioned here and there, but we know rookies generally do not contribute to winning in their first year. And we have THREE rookies that have shown legit signs of being future rotational players. It is super encouraging for ANT 2.0 that those rookies get this season under their belts and then have an offseason to work on their games.

Another interesting observation: Finch really only played an 8-man rotation. While Shannon and Clark were technically #8 and #9, it seemed Clark only saw the floor in place of Shannon after Shannon could not get a layup to fall. So I look at it as the combination of Shannon/Clark being our #8 player.

And when Rudy gets back, they will likely be out of the regular rotation again. At this point, I don't have a problem with that. They've shown they can be relied upon if needed. But our rotational guys are so deserving of minutes that an 8-man rotation makes the most sense. Especially when winning is so important right now, and an 8-man rotation is what we'll see come playoff time, too.

Yes, thank you to FNG for the game report.

On Clark and Shannon, the reason Finch should keep them in the rotation is less about them providing some huge boost to our effectiveness while on the floor (although I thought Clark was instrumental in our defensive turnaround starting in the 2nd quarter), but because our top 8 need fresh legs to close games. I think these guys can be trusted to execute the game plan and mostly play within themselves, especially Clark.

As for the rookie thing...I think that applies mostly to younger rookies like Dillingham. Not so sure our expectations should be that low for guys like Shannon and Clark. Both are older rookies that were NBA-ready physically.

Good point on the ages/experience of Clark and Shannon. I had forgotten that Clark had 3 years in college. I hope you are right that Finch will continue to give them some minutes. Especially Clark, who's defense does contribute to winning.