No Activity Today - Quasi GTD

[rapsuperstar31]

Wow what a game. Sengun flailing around, Scott Foster in extender mode and Dorris Burke having me wishing I was deaf.

That's a bummer, at least for those of us in Minnesota the game was on Fanduel so we could hear the normal local announcers.

[KiwiMatt]

After re watching the 4th quarter and overtime it is blatantly obvious that Scott Foster was trying to manipulate the outcome of that game.

[Phenom]

Jonny K says the 2 minute report showed 6 missed calls. 3 for each team. This didn't include the Naz charge. That was deemed as Sengun being in legal guarding position.

I didn't think that was the issue. I felt he flopped like a fish.

[Crazysauce]

Also didn't count the most egregious call in my eyes the so called flagrant on Randle. That was absolutely ridiculous.

We need to go back to calling a flagrant cause it's a no doubter.. an intentional punch or a kick. It's literally ruining the game. Not only that the players know the routine and just act like they are dying until they ca for the review and then are instantly fine. No reason to have this many flagrant fouls all the damn time.

[FNG]

Jonny K says the 2 minute report showed 6 missed calls. 3 for each team. This didn't include the Naz charge. That was deemed as Sengun being in legal guarding position.

I didn't think that was the issue. I felt he flopped like a fish.

Kind of the point I made earlier...refereeing is difficult, and they miss things. And because we all love to win, it makes it difficult for fans to be objective...fans always think their team is getting jobbed by the refs! But in the long run, things even out...the admission that they made 6 bad calls that disadvantaged each team equally is just another example of this.

Um...and the fact that they blew 6 calls in 2 minutes supports what we are all saying. This was a very poorly reffed game.

[Coolbreeze44]

Also didn't count the most egregious call in my eyes the so called flagrant on Randle. That was absolutely ridiculous.

We need to go back to calling a flagrant cause it's a no doubter.. an intentional punch or a kick. It's literally ruining the game. Not only that the players know the routine and just act like they are dying until they ca for the review and then are instantly fine. No reason to have this many flagrant fouls all the damn time.

I think you nailed it Crazy. Flagrants have gotten carried away.

[FNG]

I just went back to rewatch the final 2:45 of overtime...after Houston had gone up 13, and I'm sure most if not all of us had given up. Mike hits a corner three, and I think "Doesn't mean a thing, but isn't that nice". Then after a stop (actually a miss on a wide open corner three...it looked like our defense had finally given up) Mike makes a nice bounce pass to Ju, and SloMo converts a 3-point play after getting the offensive board. Down 7 now, but I think "Still doesn't mean anything, but how great to have vets like Kyle and Mike to make plays like that". But then Finchy takes Mike out and puts in TJ! We need stops, and he puts in a guy who has struggled on defense???? I join the chorus of posters swearing at Finchy. But then Julius bodies up the insufferable Sengun for an 8 second call...I sit up a little straighter on the couch. I sit up even straighter when SloMo hits a backcutting Donte for a layup and a 5-point game. I'm still not at all confident we have enough offense out there to come all the way back, but I'm enjoying it. The Wolves have 3 guys in full court pressure and Donte almost gets a steal. The pressure looks like it's going to lead to an open look for Houston, but instead they go inside to Sengun...Randle bodies him up again and forces a missed layup, and gets a layup at the other end to narrow the lead to 3. I'm fully engaged now. FastMo (he's not at all slow on defense) is as tight as he can be on KD knowing they want to go to him, the ball gets knocked loose, and even though we can't see what happened along the sideline with the crowd standing, we get the ball...phew! I marvel at the energy our guys are bringing after playing so many minutes (40 for Ju). But since TJ nearly turned the ball over after securing the ball in the scramble (but Donte saved his ass), I swear at Finchy again for having him in the game instead of the more reliable Mike. Donte looks completely gassed after going so hard for all of his 35 minutes, but works hard without the ball to tie the game with a trey...I'm starting to think we're going to win this thing. Again, Randle bullies Sengun into a missed shot, and TJ (why is even in there?) secures the rebound with 30 seconds left. Julius knocks Thompson back three feet shoving him with his left hand (thank you for the no call, refs) and puts us ahead with a mid range on the paint with 8 seconds left...15-0 run! It's going to be KD of course, and he gets to the rim after getting a nice screen. Misses the layup but a foul is called...the Wolves are pissed (why not) but any one of three guys could have been called for the foul. KD is 10 for 10 on the night and the Rockets are 23 for 23, and Horton applies the jinx by mentioning it...it works, as KD is short on the first. Way short, Jim Pete says. The usually smart Jim Pete says they should put Naz Reid in the game for rebounding, somehow forgetting he had been tossed...Horton quietly corrects him (I had the ESPN feed on last night, so I missed all this). We know KD is going to intentionally miss the second, but that only works about 10% of the time...right? KD does it perfectly, but the rebound goes right to TJ, who lets it bounce off his hands out of bounds. Why the fuck is he in there at such a critical moment??? SloMo puts his hands on his head in anguish, but then in a vet move, goes over to encourage TJ. They obviously want to get the ball to KD for the tying midrange, but Donte wisely leaves the inbounding Thompson alone and instead doubles KD so he has no chance of getting the ball. So Thompson has to pass it out to Smith Jr. and someone knocks the ball away! OMG, it's TJ!!!! FNG gets down on his knees and asks for forgiveness from Finchy. Maybe he knows more about basketball than I do.

What a weird game, but what a finish! Posters are talking about Ju's defense at the end, but he was locked in the entire game on defense. If we can get that from him and Ant in the postseason, we'll have a couple more months of Wolves' basketball ahead of us.

Good injury news, too. Ant is ahead of schedule, and Jaden is not injured...only cramps. Let's go beat the Cade-less Pistons!

I chuckled at the Ant is ahead of schedule part. Is he ahead of schedule or is it because he needs to come back at the latest Monday to still make the game limit to make all nba

Kek, Charania is reporting that Ant is on schedule to return either Saturday against the Pistons or Monday against the Mavs. As I posted earlier, I don't think we need him to beat a Dallas team that is trying to lose, so if he's not ready to play Saturday, I don't see him coming back Monday...even given the game limit factor. Ant has proven to be Superman when it comes to injuries and this is only inflammation, not any kind of a tear. So I expect to see him tomorrow in a game we need to win to stay ahead of Houston for 5th in my forecast. I guess it will depend on how he looks at practice today.

There is another variable at play here though: would the Wolves prefer to finish 5th or 6th? As I look at the remaining schedules for the Lakers and Nuggets, I think it is unlikely that LA will fall out of the 3rd position. The Lakers are red hot, but I guess I don't see a big difference facing them or Denver in the first round...we'll be an underdog either way. And we have recent history beating both of them in the preseason. But finishing 6th gets us out of OkC's bracket (assuming the Thunder maintain their lead over the Spurs). I would much prefer playing the Spurs in round 2 should we advance in round 1.

All this to say I'm not going to be too upset if the Wolves have a klunker against either Detroit or later against the hot Hornets and fall down to 6th. Maybe resting Ant tomorrow is the best strategy...

[Coolbreeze44]

It sounds like Ant is dealing with tendonitis, at least I hope that's the case. I hope they don't need to go in there to "clean up" the knee after the season.

[FNG]

It sounds like Ant is dealing with tendonitis, at least I hope that's the case. I hope they don't need to go in there to "clean up" the knee after the season.

Shams says it is inflammation (yeah, probably tendonitis), and that they also drained some fluid to make him more comfortable. Sounds like nothing structural.

And while Jaden left the game with cramps, he did have an ice pack post game on the knee you said he was grabbing. Apparently half the team had ice packs after the game! The way Jaden was guarding KD though tells me this is nothing serious.

[Wolvesfan21]

Jonny K says the 2 minute report showed 6 missed calls. 3 for each team. This didn't include the Naz charge. That was deemed as Sengun being in legal guarding position.

I didn't think that was the issue. I felt he flopped like a fish.

Kind of the point I made earlier...refereeing is difficult, and they miss things. And because we all love to win, it makes it difficult for fans to be objective...fans always think their team is getting jobbed by the refs! But in the long run, things even out...the admission that they made 6 bad calls that disadvantaged each team equally is just another example of this.

Um...and the fact that they blew 6 calls in 2 minutes supports what we are all saying. This was a very poorly reffed game.

Maybe it was excellently reffed (according to Foster that is). Just think if you swing the FT's 25-10 in favor of us. That's a 30FT, 20+ point swing. It's just so easy to manipulate the outcome, and despite that possibility, we still won. Which is really a miracle. I'd prefer to think the refs are all legit, but I simply can't. I guess isn't it even worse they are that bad versus corrupt? At least corrupt makes sense. Being that bad isn't excusable.